


River Song - Friend/Goddaughter/Killer

by TsukiKabanoki



Series: Ten and Rose elope and Eleven never marries River, but it's still canon-compliant. [7]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Platonic Relationships, River Song isn't the Doctor's wife
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-08-01 11:50:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 45,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16284080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukiKabanoki/pseuds/TsukiKabanoki
Summary: The Pond's family dynamics with the Doctor aren't quite as weird. They're still weird, but not that weird. River isn't the Doctor's wife.Rewrite of a few moments from River episodes to fit my Rose/Doctor story.





	1. Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead

**Author's Note:**

> I've only rewritten parts of the episodes.  
> To provide context I use the transcripts from www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho  
> Rights go to the owner of this fantastic site.

**Silence in the Library**

 

_[Girl's home]_

_MOON: Can you hear me? Are you all right?_   
_GIRL: Others are coming._   
_MOON: Who's coming? Who are the others?_   
_GIRL: The library is breached. Others are coming._   
_MOON: What others?_

_[Rotunda]_

_DONNA: Others? What's it mean, others?_   
_(Donna goes to a Node.)_   
_DONNA: Excuse me. What does it mean, others?_   
_DOCTOR: That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you._   
_DONNA: So why's it got a face?_   
_MARK NODE: This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death._   
_DONNA: It's a real face?._   
_MARK NODE: It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy._   
_DONNA: It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it._   
_DOCTOR: It's the fifty first century. That's basically like donating a park bench._   
_DONNA: It's donating a face!_   
_DOCTOR: No, wait, no._   
_(The Doctor grabs Donna as she backs away.)_   
_DONNA: Oi. Hands._   
_DOCTOR: The shadow. Look._   
_DONNA: What about it?_   
_DOCTOR: Count the shadows._   
_DONNA: One. There, counted it. One shadow._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah But what's casting it?_   
_(It is a triangular shadow.)_   
_DOCTOR: Oh, I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick. Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head._   
_(The light in adjoining corridor is going out.)_   
_DONNA: The power must be going._   
_DOCTOR: This place runs on fission cells. They'll outburn the sun._   
_DONNA: Then why is it dark?_   
_DOCTOR: It's not dark._   
_DONNA: That shadow. It's gone._   
_DOCTOR: We need to get back to the Tardis._   
_DONNA: Why?_   
_DOCTOR: Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved._   
_MARK NODE: Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached (and so on)_   
_(A door is blown open in a flash of bright light, and six spacesuited figures enter. The leader adjusts her polarising filter so we can see her face.)_   
_RIVER: Hello, sweetie._   
_DOCTOR: Get out._   
_DONNA: Doctor._   
_DOCTOR: All of you. Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you._   
_RIVER: Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers._   
_ANITA: How do you know they're not androids?_   
_RIVER: Because I've dated androids. They're rubbish._   
_(A man speaks.)_   
_LUX: Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives._   
_RIVER: I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others._   
_LUX: Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts._   
_RIVER: You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?_   
_DOCTOR: Please, just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave. Hang on. Did you say expedition?_   
_LUX: My expedition. I funded it._   
_DOCTOR: Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists._   
_RIVER: Got a problem with archaeologists?_   
_DOCTOR: I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists._   
_RIVER: Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist._   
_DOCTOR: River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever. Stop right there. What's your name?_   
_ANITA: Anita._   
_DOCTOR: Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared. No, bit more scared than that. Okay, do for now. You. Who are you?_   
_OTHER DAVE: Er, Dave._   
_DOCTOR: Okay, Dave._   
_OTHER DAVE: Oh, well, Other Dave, because that's Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we_   
_DOCTOR: Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?_   
_OTHER DAVE: Yeah. Oh, it's a bit darker._   
_DOCTOR: How much darker?_   
_OTHER DAVE Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now._   
_DOCTOR: Seal up this door. We'll find another way out._   
_OTHER DAVE: Would you_   
_LUX: We're not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista?_   
_EVANGELISTA: I'm Mister Lux's personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation._   
_DOCTOR: Right, give it here._   
_DONNA: Yeah, lovely. Thanks._   
_(The Doctor and Donna tear up the contracts.)_   
_LUX: My family built this library. I have rights._   
_RIVER: You have a mouth that won't stop. You think there's danger here?_   
_DOCTOR: Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be._   
_RIVER: That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here's long dead._   
_DOCTOR: Bet your life?_   
_RIVER: Always._   
_LUX: What are you doing?_   
_OTHER DAVE: He said seal the door._   
_DOCTOR: Torch._   
_LUX: You're taking orders from him?_   
_DOCTOR: Spooky, isn't it?_   
_(The Doctor takes Lux's torch and shines it into the far recesses of the round room.)_   
_DOCTOR: Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada._   
_DONNA: What's Vashta Nerada?_   
_DOCTOR: It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark. Lights! That's what we need, lights. You got lights?_   
_RIVER: What for?_   
_DOCTOR: Form a circle. Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out._   
_RIVER: Oi. Do as he says._   
_LUX: You're not listening to this man?_   
_RIVER: Apparently I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office._   
_LUX: Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?_   
_RIVER: I don't fancy you._   
_(The Doctor goes over to Dave at the terminal. Lux takes off his helmet.)_   
_DOCTOR: Probably I can help you._   
_RIVER: Pretty boy. With me, I said._   
_DOCTOR: Oh, I'm pretty boy?_   
_DONNA: Yes. Ooo, that came out a bit quick._   
_DOCTOR: Pretty?_   
_DONNA: Meh._   
_DOCTOR: Don't let your shadows cross. Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected._   
_OTHER DAVE: How can a shadow be infected?_   
_EVANGELISTA: Excuse me, can I help?_   
_ANITA: No, we're fine._   
_EVANGELISTA: I could just you know, hold things._   
_OTHER DAVE: No, really, we're okay._   
_DONNA: Couldn't she help?_   
_OTHER DAVE: Trust me. I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's er_   
_ANITA: Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice._   
_(Evangelista talks with her boss. River takes a battered book from her backpack. Its cover is blue with eight squares._   
_RIVER: Thanks._   
_DOCTOR: For what?_   
_RIVER: The usual. For coming when I call._   
_DOCTOR: Oh, that was you?_   
_RIVER: You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. I'm assuming there's a reason._   
_DOCTOR: A fairly good one, actually._   
_RIVER: Okay, shall we do diaries, then? Where are we this time? Er, going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, er, crash of the Byzantium. Have we done that yet? Obviously ringing no bells. Right. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet? Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Whoo, life with a time traveller. Never knew it could be such hard work. Look at you. Oh, you're young._   
_DOCTOR: I'm really not, you know._   
_RIVER: No, but you are. Your eyes. You're younger than I've ever seen you._   
_DOCTOR: You've seen me before, then?_   
_RIVER: Doctor, please tell me you know who I am._   
_DOCTOR: Who are you?_   
_(Brng, brng. Brng, brng.)_   
_DAVE: Sorry, that was me. Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?_   
_DONNA: Doctor? Doctor, that sounds like_   
_DOCTOR: It is. It's a phone._

_[Girl's home]_

_(A proper non-wireless, decent sized handset telephone is ringing. The girl has the television on but her back is to is as she writes or draws on some paper.)_   
_GIRL: Dad?_   
_FATHER: In a minute._

_[Rotunda]_

_DAVE: I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise._   
_DONNA: But it's a phone._   
_DOCTOR: Let me try something._

_[Girl's home]_

_GIRL: Dad, the phone. Aren't you going to answer it?_   
_FATHER: It's not ringing, sweetie._   
_(The phone stops ringing just as she gets to it.)_

_[Rotunda]_

_(The screen says Access Denied.)_   
_DOCTOR: Okay, doesn't like that. Let's try something else._

_[Girl's home]_

_(The girl is drawing the library.)_   
_DOCTOR [OC]: Okay, here it comes._   
_DOCTOR [on TV]: Hello?_   
_GIRL: Hello. Are you in my television?_   
_DOCTOR [on TV]: Well, no, I'm, I'm sort of in space. Er, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor._   
_GIRL: Would you like to speak to my Dad?_   
_DOCTOR [on TV]: Dad or your Mum. That'd be lovely._   
_GIRL: I know you. You're in my library._   
_DOCTOR [on TV]: Your library?_   
_GIRL: The library's never been on the television before. What have you done?_   
_DOCTOR [on TV]: Er, well, I just rerouted the interface._   
_(The cartoon returns.)_

_[Rotunda]_

_RIVER: What happened? Who was that?_   
_(Access denied. The girl starts changing channels on the television.)_   
_DOCTOR: I need another terminal. Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!_   
_RIVER: You heard him, people. Let there be light._   
_(The Doctor goes to the other terminal, where River left her diary. When he picks it up, she takes it from him.)_   
_RIVER: Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules._   
_DOCTOR: What rules?_   
_RIVER: Your rules._   
_(The girl opens the extra section at the bottom of the remote controller and presses a button. Books start flying off the shelves.)_   
_DOCTOR: What's that? I didn't do that. Did you do that?_   
_DAVE: Not me._   
_(The Doctor's screen says Cal Access Denied.)_   
_DOCTOR: What's Cal?_   
_(The girl works her way through all the extra buttons. The bombardment of books finally stops. Donna goes over to Miss Evangelista.)_   
_DONNA: You all right?_   
_EVANGELISTA: What's that? What's happening?_   
_LUX: I don't know._   
_DONNA: Oh, thanks, for er, you know, offering to help with the lights._   
_EVANGELISTA: They don't want me. They think I'm stupid, because I'm pretty._   
_DONNA: Course they don't. Nobody thinks that._   
_EVANGELISTA: No, they're right though. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I have the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased._   
_DONNA: See, that's funny._   
_EVANGELISTA: No, no, I really was pleased. Is that funny?_   
_DONNA: No, no._   
_(More books shoot off their shelves.)_   
_RIVER: What's causing that? Is it the little girl?_   
_DOCTOR: But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?_   
_RIVER: Ask Mister Lux._   
_DOCTOR: Cal, what is it?_   
_LUX: Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts._   
_DOCTOR: Mister Lux. Right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?_   
_LUX: I'm protecting my family's pride._   
_DOCTOR: Well, funny thing, Mister Lux. I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important._   
_RIVER: Then why don't you sign his contract? I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you._   
_DOCTOR: Okay, okay, okay. Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?_   
_(The girl presses a button on her remote, and a panel slides up in the wall. Evangelista notices it.)_   
_RIVER: There was a message from the Library. Just one. The lights are going out. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years._   
_LUX: It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in._   
_EVANGELISTA: Er, excuse me?_   
_LUX: Not just now._   
_RIVER: There was one other thing in the last message._   
_LUX: That's confidential._   
_RIVER: I trust this man with my life, with everything._   
_LUX: You've only just met him._   
_RIVER: No, he's only just met me._   
_EVANGELISTA: Er, this might be important, actually._   
_LUX: In a moment._   
_RIVER: This is a data extract that came with the message._   
_DOCTOR: Four thousand and twenty two saved. No survivors._   
_RIVER: Four thousand and twenty two. That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed._   
_DONNA: But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?_   
_RIVER: That's what we're here to find out._   
_LUX: And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies._

_**[Lecture hall]** _

_(Evangelista explores the open panel alone. She goes down a short passage to what might be a reading room or lecture hall. Anyway, every flat surface has books piled on it. She steps into the darkness and screams. The Doctor leads the way to investigate. They find a skeleton in rags.)_   
_DOCTOR: Everybody, careful. Stay in the light._   
_DAVE: You keep saying that. I don't see the point._   
_DOCTOR: Who screamed?_   
_DAVE: Miss Evangelista._   
_DOCTOR: Where is she?_   
_RIVER: Miss Evangelista, please state your current_   
_(River's voice echoes from very nearby.)_   
_RIVER: Please state your current position._   
_(River takes a lit comm. unit from the remains of the skeleton's collar.)_   
_RIVER: It's her. It's Miss Evangelista._   
_ANITA: We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?_   
_DOCTOR: It took a lot less than a few seconds._   
_ANITA: What did?_   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello?_   
_RIVER: Er, I'm sorry, everyone. Er, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting._   
_DONNA: She's what?_   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me._   
_DONNA: That's, that's her, that's Miss Evangelista._   
_DAVE: I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know?_   
_RIVER: This is her last moment. No, we can't. A little respect, thank you._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Sorry, where am I? Excuse me?_   
_DONNA: But that's Miss Evangelista._   
_RIVER: It's a data ghost. She'll be gone in a moment. Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently._   
_DONNA: What's a data ghost?_   
_DOCTOR: There's a neural relay in the communicator. Lets you send thought mail. That's it there. Those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage._   
_ANITA: My grandfather lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces._   
_DONNA: She's in there._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: I can't see. I can't. Where am I?_   
_DAVE: She's just brain waves now. The pattern won't hold for long._   
_DONNA: But, she's conscious. She's thinking._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: I can't see, I can't. I don't know what I'm thinking._   
_DOCTOR: She's a footprint on the beach. And the tide's coming in._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Where's that woman? The nice woman. Is she there?_   
_LUX: What woman?_   
_DONNA: She means. I think she means me._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Is she there? The nice woman._   
_RIVER: Yes, she's here. Hang on. Go ahead. She can hear you._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Are you there?_   
_DOCTOR: Help her._   
_DONNA: She's dead._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah. Help her._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Hello? Is that the nice woman?_   
_DONNA: Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm here. You okay?_   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: What I said before, about being stupid. Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh._   
_DONNA: Course I won't. Course I won't tell them._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh._   
_DONNA: I won't tell them. I said I won't._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh._   
_DONNA: I'm not going to tell them._   
_(The green light starts blinking.)_   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh._   
_RIVER: She's looping now. The pattern's degrading._   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: I can't think. I don't know, I, I, I, I scream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream._   
_RIVER: Does anybody mind if I?_   
_EVANGELISTA [OC]: Ice cream. Ice cream._   
_(River turns off the comm. unit.)_   
_DONNA: That was, that was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen._   
_RIVER: No. It's just a freak of technology. But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that._   
_DOCTOR: I'll introduce you._

 

"I'm going to need a packed lunch."

River didn't ask, so either she understood or she didn't question him. "Hang on."

He comes to speak of her blue diary again. "What's in that book?"

"Spoilers."

He tried something different. "Who are you?"

"Professor River Song, University of -"

He interrupted her. "To me. Who are you to me?"

"Again, spoilers. Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."

 

_[Girl's home]_

_(The girl throws the remote control on the floor.)_   
_FATHER: Darling, Doctor Moon is going now, but he'd like a word with you alone. Is that all right?_   
_GIRL: Yes, of course, Doctor Moon._   
_MOON: Thank you. Now, listen. This is important. There's the real world, and there's the world of nightmares. That's right, isn't it? You understand that?_   
_GIRL: Yes, I know, Doctor Moon._   
_MOON: What I want you to remember is this, and I know it's hard. The real world is a lie, and your nightmares are real. The library is real. There are people trapped in there, people who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again. Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you._

 

River went to speak to Donna. "You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him."

"What of it?"

The Doctor was talking with Proper Dave.

"You know him, don't you?", Donna asked.

"Yes, we go way back, that man and me. Just not this far back."

"I'm sorry, what?"

River sighs. "He hasn't met me yet. I sent him a message, but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does. He's ... like family."

"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you"

The Doctor shouted, "Donna! Quiet, I'm working."

"Sorry."

That's when River realized, she was "Donna. You're Donna. Donna Noble."

"Yeah. Why?"

"I do know the Doctor, but in the future. His personal future."

"So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?"

_DOCTOR: Okay, got a live one. That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm._   
_(The Doctor throws a chicken leg into the shadow. It is only bone by the time it hits the floor.)_   
_DOCTOR: The piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive._   
_DONNA: What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?_   
_DOCTOR: Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams._   
_DONNA: If they were on Earth, we'd know._   
_DOCTOR: Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark._   
_RIVER: Every shadow?_   
_DOCTOR: No. But any shadow._   
_RIVER: So what do we do?_   
_DOCTOR: Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run._   
_RIVER: Run? Run where?_   
_DOCTOR: This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere._   
_LUX: Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics._   
_DONNA: Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff._   
_DOCTOR: You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop._   
_DAVE: Okay, let's move it._   
_He heads towards the shop but the Doctor spots something._   
_DOCTOR: Actually, Proper Dave? Could you stay where you are for a moment?_   
_DAVE: Why?_   
_DOCTOR: I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows._   
_(He has, at right angles to each other.)_   
_DOCTOR: It's how they hunt. They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh._   
_DAVE: What do I do?_   
_DOCTOR: You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps._   
_RIVER: We're not leaving you, Dave._   
_DOCTOR: Course we're not leaving him. Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me._   
_DAVE: On the floor, by my bag._   
_(Anita goes to get it.)_   
_DOCTOR: Don't cross his shadow. Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got._   
_(The Doctor puts Dave's helmet on him.)_   
_DONNA: But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah, but we're safe anyway._   
_DONNA: How are we safe?_   
_DOCTOR: We're not. That was a clever lie to shut you up. Professor, anything I can do with the suit?_   
_LUX: What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left._   
_RIVER: We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal._   
_DOCTOR: Okay._   
_(The Doctor uses his screwdriver to adjust Dave's suit.)_   
_DOCTOR: Eight hundred percent. Pass it on._   
_RIVER: Gotcha._   
_(River holds up a sonic screwdriver of her own.)_   
_DOCTOR: What's that?_   
_RIVER: It's a screwdriver._   
_DOCTOR: It's sonic._   
_RIVER: Yeah, I know. Snap._   
_(River upgrades everyone's spacesuit. The Doctor grabs Donna.)_   
_DOCTOR: With me. Come on._

_[Shop]_

_DONNA: What are we doing? We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?_   
_(There is a lectern by a small dais with three roundels in it.)_   
_DOCTOR: No talking, just moving. Try it. Right, stand there in the middle. It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, Tardis won't recognise them._   
_DONNA: What are you doing?_   
_DOCTOR: You don't have a suit. You're not safe._   
_DONNA: You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving you_   
_DOCTOR: Donna, let me explain._   
_(Donna teleports away.)_   
_DOCTOR: Oh, that's how you do it._   
_RIVER [OC]: Doctor._

_[Rotunda]_

_(Donna starts to materialise inside the Tardis, then flickers, screams, and vanishes.)_   
_DOCTOR: Where did it go?_   
_DAVE: It's just gone. I looked round, one shadow, see._   
_RIVER: Does that mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here._   
_LUX: I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence._   
_RIVER: Shut up, Mister Lux._   
_DOCTOR: Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?_   
_DAVE: No, no, but look, it's gone._   
_(Dave turns around.)_   
_DOCTOR: Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving. They're never just gone and they never give up._   
_(He sonics the floor by Dave.)_   
_DOCTOR: Well, this one's benign._   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_DOCTOR: No one, they're fine._   
_DAVE: No seriously, turn them back on._   
_RIVER: They are on._   
_DAVE: I can't see a ruddy thing._   
_DOCTOR: Dave, turn around._   
_(Dave turns back to the Doctor, his visor completely dark.)_   
_DAVE: What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?_   
_DOCTOR: Dave, I want you stay still. Absolutely still._   
_(Dave jerks.)_   
_DOCTOR: Dave? Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Are you all right? Talk to me, Dave._   
_DAVE: I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine._   
_DOCTOR: I want you to stay still. Absolutely still._   
_DAVE: I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine. I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I_   
_(Dave's comm. unit lights blink.)_   
_RIVER: He's gone. He's ghosting._   
_LUX: Then why is he still standing?_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_RIVER: Doctor, don't._   
_DOCTOR: Dave, can you hear me?_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_(Dave grabs the Doctor by the throat. A skull is now visible in his helmet.)_   
_DAVE: Who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_RIVER: Excuse me._   
_(River zaps the zombie with her sonic screwdriver, freeing the Doctor.)_   
_DOCTOR: Back from it! Get back. Right back._   
_(Zombie Dave lurches a step towards them.)_   
_RIVER: Doesn't move very fast, does it?_   
_DOCTOR: It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning._   
_(Zombie Dave has four shadows, and they are growing.)_   
_LUX: What do we do? Where do we go?_   
_RIVER: See that wall behind you? Duck._   
_(River fires a gun at the wall and makes a square hole in it.)_   
_DOCTOR: Squareness gun!_   
_RIVER: Everybody out. Go, go, go. Move it. Move, move. Move it. Move, move._

_[Stacks]_

_RIVER: You said not every shadow._   
_DOCTOR: But any shadow._   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_RIVER: Run!_

_[Girl's home]_

_FATHER: Sweetie, dinner's ready._   
_GIRL: Donna Noble has been saved._   
_FATHER: Sweetie?_

_[Stacks]_

_(Somewhere amongst the massive shelves of books, the Doctor is trying to sonic a light fitting.)_   
_DOCTOR: Trying to boost the power. Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down._   
_RIVER: So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?_

 

The Doctor eyed River's sonic. "Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine."

"Yeah. You gave it to me."

He frowned. "I don't give my screwdriver to anyone. Not even Rose."

She looked at him a bit ... confusedly or sadly, he couldn't tell. "You get smarter and I'm not anyone."

"Who are you?"

She averted her eyes "What's the plan?"

 

 

**Forest of the Dead**

 

_[Living room]_

_(Doctor Moon is looking through the family album while the children run around.)_   
_DONNA: Stop it. Stop it now. We've got a visitor._   
_MOON: You've done so much in seven years, Donna._   
_DONNA: Sometimes it feels more like seventy. Mind you, sometimes it feels like no time at all._   
_(Doctor Moon picks up his briefcase to leave.)_   
_MOON: Can I just say what a pleasure it is to see you fully integrated._   
_(Moon fritzes out to be replaced by the Doctor fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.)_   
_DOCTOR: No, the signal's definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through. Donna!_   
_(Moon returns.)_   
_MOON: Sorry. Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise. Will I never learn?_   
_DONNA: Oh, the Doctor. I saw the Doctor._   
_MOON: Yes, you did, Donna. And then, you forgot._   
_DONNA: Doctor Moon. Oh, hello. Shall I make you a cup of tea?_

_[Rotunda]_

_(The large moon is hanging high in the orange sky. River cuts a square in the wall with her gun and enters.)_   
_RIVER: OK, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre. In the middle of the light, quickly. Don't let your shadows cross. Doctor._   
_DOCTOR: I'm doing it._   
_RIVER: There's no lights here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long. Have you found a live one?_   
_DOCTOR: Maybe. It's getting harder to tell. What's wrong with you?_   
_RIVER: We're going to need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg? Thanks, Dave._   
_(She throws the meat into the shadow, and once again it is just bone before it hits the ground.)_   
_RIVER: Okay. Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet._   
_DOCTOR: They won't attack until there's enough of them. But they've got our scent now. They're coming._

 

The others were suspicious and asking about the Time Lord. "He's the Doctor," was Rivers answer.

"And who is the Doctor?", Lux asked.

"The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive him."

"You say he's your friend, but he doesn't even know who you are", Anita argued.

"Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust that man to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been."

"He doesn't act like he trusts you."

"Yeah, there's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet."

She went over to the subject of interest. He was still scanning shadows.

"What's wrong with it?" She points at his sonic.

"There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it."

"Then use the red settings."

"It doesn't have a red setting."

"Well, use the dampers."

"It doesn't have dampers."

She sighed. "It will do one day."

He took River's sonic screwdriver. "So, some time in the future, I just give you my screwdriver."

"Yeah."

"Why would I do that?"

"I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about."

"And I know that because?"

"Listen to me. You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now."

"Less emotional? I'm not emotional."

"There are five people in this room still alive. Focus on that. Dear God, you're hard work young."

"Young? Who are you?"

Lux lost his patience. "Oh, for heaven's sake! Look at the pair of you. We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple"

River looked exasperated. "Shut up, things like that make me uncomfortable." She turned back to the Doctor. "Doctor, one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you."

She leaned forward to whisper two words in his ear. "Bad Wolf." It was something that her Doctor told her to do when she had last seen him.

"Are we good? Doctor, are we good?"

He looked completely stunned. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good."

 

_(River takes back her screwdriver and leaves him.)_   
_DOCTOR: Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed? Come on! What's new? What's different?_   
_DAVE 2: I don't know. Nothing. It's getting dark?_   
_DOCTOR: It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark. Moon rise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?_   
_LUX: It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon._   
_DOCTOR: What's a Doctor Moon?_   
_LUX: A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet._   
_DOCTOR: Well, still active. It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or, possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through._   
_(An image of Donna appears.)_   
_RIVER: Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: Donna!_   
_(Donna disappears again.)_   
_RIVER: That was her. That was your friend! Can you get her back? What was that?_   
_DOCTOR: Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength. Argh, I'm being blocked._   
_ANITA: Professor?_   
_RIVER: Just a moment._   
_ANITA: It's important. I have two shadows._   
_RIVER: Okay. Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours._   
_ANITA: It didn't do Proper Dave any good._   
_RIVER: Just keep it together, okay?_   
_ANITA: Keeping it together. I'm only crying. I'm about to die. It's not an overreaction._   
_(River puts the helmet on Anita.)_   
_DOCTOR: Hang on._   
_(The Doctor sonics the visor black.)_   
_RIVER: Oh God, they've got inside._   
_DOCTOR: No, no, no. I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone._   
_RIVER: Do you think they can be fooled like that?_   
_DOCTOR: Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm. It's not like we chat._   
_OTHER DAVE: Can you still see in there?_   
_ANITA: Just about._   
_DOCTOR: Just, just, just stay back. Professor, a quick word, please._   
_RIVER: What?_   
_DOCTOR: Down here._   
_They crouch down._   
_RIVER: What is it?_   
_DOCTOR: Look, you said there are five people still alive in this room._   
_RIVER: Yeah, so?_   
_DOCTOR: So, why are there six?_   
_(Skeletal zombie Dave has caught up to them.)_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_DOCTOR: Run!_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_

_[Girl's home]_

_DAVE [on TV]: Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_(She changes channels.)_   
_DONNA [on TV]: Here we are, Doctor Moon._

_[Living room]_

_ELLA: Mummy, I made you!_   
_(Donna's daughter, Ella, has made a plasticine figure.)_   
_DONNA: Oh, that's nice, Ella. Where's the face?_   
_ELLA: I don't know._   
_DONNA: Did you see Doctor Moon? Did he leave?_   
_(Lee enters, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.)_   
_JOSHUA + ELLA: Daddy!_   
_LEE: Hey! Hello, you two. Come here. Big hugs. Big Daddy hugs._   
_ELLA: Look what I made._   
_LEE: Oh. It's Mummy._   
_DONNA: Er, it hasn't got a face. Did you see Doctor Moon?_   
_LEE: No. Why, was he here?_   
_DONNA: Yeah, just a second ago. You must have passed him._   
_(Donna looks out of the window and catches a brief glimpse of a woman in long black Victorian dress walking away.)_   
_LEE: You all right?_   
_DONNA: Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just_   
_LEE: Just?_   
_DONNA: Nothing. It's been a long day, that's all. I'm just tired._

_[Bedroom]_

_LEE: You okay?_   
_DONNA: I said I was tired, and, and we put the kids to bed, and we watched television._   
_(The letterbox rattles.)_   
_DONNA: Was that a letter?_   
_LEE: It's midnight._   
_DONNA: Go and see what it is._   
_(Lee leaves the room. Donna looks out of the window and sees the woman in black more clearly. She is wearing a veil. Lee returns.)_   
_LEE: The world is wrong._   
_DONNA: What?_   
_LEE: For you. Weird, though. Dear Donna, the world is wrong. Meet me at your usual playpark, two o'clock tomorrow._   
_(The woman walks away.)_   
_DONNA: Nutter._

_[Girl's home]_

_GIRL: Don't go. Please don't go._

_[Playground]_

_(Donna brings her children to play. The woman is sitting alone on a bench.)_   
_DONNA: All right, you two, off you go. No fighting._   
_(Donna sits next to the woman.)_   
_DONNA: I got your note last night. The world is wrong. What's that mean?_   
_EVANGELISTA: No, you didn't._   
_DONNA: I'm sorry, what?_   
_EVANGELISTA: You didn't get my note last night. You got it a few seconds ago. Having decided to come, you suddenly found yourself arriving. That is how time progresses here, in the manner of a dream. You've suspected that before, haven't you, Donna Noble?_   
_DONNA: How do you know me?_   
_EVANGELISTA: We met before, in the library. You were kind to me. I hope now to return that kindness._   
_DONNA: Your voice. I recognise it._   
_EVANGELISTA: Yes, you do. I am what is left of Miss Evangelista._

_[Stacks]_

_(The group run through a high level walkway to another library skyscraper.)_   
_DOCTOR: Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot._   
_RIVER: It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it._   
_DOCTOR: Five minutes._   
_RIVER: Other Dave, stay with him. Pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor._   
_(Zombie Dave barges through the doors.)_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_DOCTOR: You hear that? Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy. Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to me._   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_DOCTOR: The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?_   
_OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: In a minute. You came to the library to hunt. Why? Just tell me why?_   
_VASHTA NERADA: We did not._   
_DOCTOR: Oh, hello._   
_VASHTA NERADA: We did not._   
_DOCTOR: Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it. Did not what?_   
_VASHTA NERADA: We did not come here._   
_DOCTOR: Well, of course you did. Of course you came here._   
_VASHTA NERADA: We come from here._   
_DOCTOR: From here?_   
_VASHTA NERADA: We hatched here._   
_DOCTOR: But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees._   
_VASHTA NERADA: These are our forests._   
_DOCTOR: You're nowhere near a forest. Look around you._   
_VASHTA NERADA: These are our forests._   
_DOCTOR: You're not in a forest, you're in a library. There are no trees in a (the penny drops) library._   
_OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: Books. You came in the books. Microspores in a million, million books._   
_DAVE 2: We should go. Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: Oh, look at that. The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound. A million, million books, hatching shadows._   
_OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: Oh, Dave! Oh Dave, I'm so sorry._   
_(Other Dave is also a skeleton now.)_   
_DAVE: Hey, who turned out the lights?_   
_OTHER DAVE: We should go. Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: Thing about me, I'm stupid. I talk too much. Always babbling on. This gob doesn't stop for anything. Want to know the only reason I'm still alive? Always stay near the door._   
_(The Doctor opens a trapdoor with his sonic screwdriver and drops. The girl watches him on the television as he hangs on to a support strut and inches his way along, screwdriver clenched between his teeth.)_

_[Playground]_

_EVANGELISTA: I suggested we meet here because a playground is the easiest place to see it. To see the lie._   
_DONNA: What lie?_   
_EVANGELISTA: The children. Look at the children._   
_DONNA: Why do you wear that veil? If I had a face like yours, I wouldn't hide it._   
_EVANGELISTA: You remember my face, then? The memories are all still there. The library, the Doctor, me. You've just been programmed not to look._   
_DONNA: Sorry, but you're dead._   
_EVANGELISTA: In a way, we're all dead here, Donna. We are the dead of the library._   
_DONNA: Well, what about the children? The children aren't dead. My children aren't dead._   
_EVANGELISTA: Your children were never alive._   
_DONNA: Don't you say that. Don't you dare say that about my children!_   
_EVANGELISTA: Look at your children. Look at all of them, really look._   
_(All the children in the playground are Ella and Joshua, repeated over and over.)_   
_EVANGELISTA: They're not real. Do you see it now? They're all the same. All the children of this world, the same boy and the same girl, over and over again._   
_DONNA: Stop it. Just stop it. Why are you doing this? Why are you wearing that veil?_   
_(Donna pulls off Evangelista's veil. Her face is distorted, skewed and stretched. Donna and the girl scream.)_

 

"You know, it's funny, I keep wishing the Doctor was here," River told her team. Well, what was remaining anyway.

"The Doctor is here, isn't he? He is coming back, right?"

"You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them. and it's like they're not quite finished. They're not done yet. Well, yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not the Doctor I know. Now my Doctor, I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor in the Tardis. Next stop, everywhere."

Mentioned man came in. "Spoilers. Nobody can open a Tardis by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that."

"It does for the Doctor."

He was getting annoyed with her, she could tell. "I am the Doctor."

"Yeah. Some day."

 

_DOCTOR: How are you doing?_   
_RIVER: Where's Other Dave?_   
_DOCTOR: Not coming. Sorry._   
_ANITA: Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?_   
_DOCTOR: I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference._   
_(Anita has two shadows.)_   
_ANITA: It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again._   
_DOCTOR: Can I get you anything?_   
_ANITA: An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?_   
_DOCTOR: I'm all over it._   
_ANITA: Doctor. When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far. I could do with a word like that. What did she say? Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me._   
_DOCTOR: Safe._   
_ANITA: What?_   
_DOCTOR: Safe. You don't say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?_   
_LUX: Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors._   
_RIVER: Doctor?_   
_DOCTOR: Nobody says saved. Nutters say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!_

_[Playground]_

_DONNA: What happened to your face?_   
_EVANGELISTA: Transcription errors. Destroyed my face, did wonders for my intellect. I'm a very poor copy of myself._

_[Girl's home]_

_DONNA [on TV]: Where are we? Why are the children all the same?_   
_EVANGELISTA [on TV]: The same pattern over and over. It saves an awful lot of space._   
_DONNA [on TV]: Space?_   
_EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Cyberspace._   
_GIRL: No, don't tell! You mustn't tell!_

_[Reading room]_

_(The Doctor has got into a Library Archive File.)_   
_DOCTOR: See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out._   
_RIVER: It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?_   
_DOCTOR: It succeeded. Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?_   
_RIVER: It saved them._   
_(The Doctor draws on a large polished table.)_   
_DOCTOR: The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive._

_[Bandstand]_

_EVANGELISTA: Your physical self is stored in the library as an energy signature. It can be actualised again whenever you or the library requires._   
_DONNA: The library? If my face ends up on one of those statues._   
_EVANGELISTA: You remember the statues?_   
_DONNA: Wait, no, just hang on. So this isn't the real me? This isn't my real body? But I've been dieting._   
_EVANGELISTA: What you see around you, this entire world_

_[Girl's home]_

_EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Is nothing more than virtual reality._

_[Bandstand]_

_DONNA: So why do you look like that?_   
_EVANGELISTA: I had no choice. You teleported. You're a perfect reproduction. I was just a data ghost caught in the Wi-Fi and automatically uploaded._   
_DONNA: And it made you clever?_   
_EVANGELISTA: We're only strings of numbers in here. I think a decimal point may have shifted in my IQ. But my face has been the bigger advantage. I have the two qualities you require to see absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved._   
_DONNA: If this is all a dream, whose dream is it?_   
_EVANGELISTA: It's hard to see everything in the data core, even for me, but there is a word. Just one word. Cal._   
_(The girl is crying. She changes channels.)_

_[Playground]_

_(Ella has fallen from a swing.)_   
_ELLA: Mummy, my knee!_   
_DONNA: Oh! Oh, look at that knee. Oh, look at that silly old knee!_   
_EVANGELISTA: She's not real. They're fictions. I'm sorry, but now that you understand that, you won't be able to keep a hold. They are sustained only by your belief._   
_DONNA: You don't know. You don't have children._   
_EVANGELISTA: Neither do you._

_[Girl's home]_

_EVANGELISTA [on TV]: Donna, for your own sake, let them go!_   
_GIRL: Stop it! You'll spoil everything! I hate you! You're going to ruin everything! Stop it!_   
_FATHER: Sweetie, what's wrong?_   
_GIRL: Shut up!_   
_(She points the remote at her father and presses a button. He vanishes.)_   
_GIRL: Daddy! No! Daddy!_   
_(She throws the remote on the floor.)_

_[Reading room]_

_(An alarm sounds.)_   
_LUX: What is it? What's wrong?_   
_COMPUTER: Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes._

_[Girl's home]_

_ELLA [on TV]: Mummy, what did the lady mean? Are we not real?_   
_JOSHUA [on TV]: Where are we going?_   
_DONNA [on TV]: Home!_

_[Living room]_

_(The lighting is red and the alarm is sounding.)_   
_JOSHUA: That was quick, wasn't it, Mummy?_   
_ELLA: Mummy, what's wrong with the sky?_

_[Reading room]_

_RIVER: What's maximum erasure?_   
_DOCTOR: In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg._   
_LUX: No. No, it's all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal._

_[Girl's home]_

_MOON: Now you really must stop this, you know. You've forgotten again it was you who saved all those people, haven't you? And then, you remembered._   
_GIRL: Shut up, Doctor Moon!_   
_(She grabs the remote and makes him vanish.)_

_[Reading room]_

_(The terminal screen goes blank.)_   
_DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_   
_COMPUTER: All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly_   
_LUX: We need to stop this. We've got to save Cal._   
_DOCTOR: What is it? What is Cal?_   
_LUX: We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you._   
_DOCTOR: It's at the core of the planet._   
_RIVER: Well, then. Let's go._   
_(River points her screwdriver at the library logo in the middle of the compass rose in the floor. It opens.)_   
_RIVER: Gravity platform._   
_DOCTOR: I bet I like you._   
_RIVER: Oh, you do._   
_(The four step on and go down.)_

_[Living room]_

_JOSHUA: Mummy, you're hurting my hand._   
_DONNA: You just, you just stay where I can see you, all right? You, you don't get out of my sight._   
_ELLA: Is it bedtime?_

_[Children's bedroom]_

_(The children are tucked up in their attic beds.)_   
_DONNA: Okay. That was lovely, wasn't it? That was a lovely bedtime. We had warm milk, and we watched cartoons, and then Mummy read you a lovely bedtime story._   
_ELLA: Mummy, Joshua and me, we're not real, are we?_   
_DONNA: Of course you're real. You're as real as anything. Why do you say that?_   
_JOSHUA: But, Mummy, sometimes, when you're not here, it's like we're not here._   
_ELLA: Even when you close your eyes, we just stop._   
_DONNA: Well, Mummy promises to never close her eyes again._   
_(The children have vanished. Donna is frantic.)_   
_DONNA: No! Please! No, please! No! No, no! No, no!_

_[Data core]_

_COMPUTER: Autodestruct in fifteen minutes._   
_(The Doctor looks up to see a globe with swirling energy in it.)_   
_DOCTOR: The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it._   
_RIVER: Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer. We're running out of time._

_[Girl's home]_

_GIRL: Help me. Please, help me. Please, please help me!_

_[Data core]_

_(The Doctor finds an access terminal.)_   
_GIRL [OC]: Help me. Please, help me._   
_ANITA: What's that?_   
_RIVER: Was that a child?_   
_DOCTOR: The computer's in sleep mode. I can't wake it up. I'm trying._   
_(The Doctor taps at the keyboard, and toys come to life in the girl's home.)_   
_RIVER: Doctor, these readings._   
_DOCTOR: I know. You'd think it was dreaming._   
_LUX: It is dreaming, of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written._   
_ANITA: Computers don't dream._   
_GIRL [OC]: Help me. Please help me._   
_LUX: No, but little girls do._   
_(Lux pulls a breaker and a door opens. They run in.)_

_[CAL interface]_

_(A node turns to face them.)_   
_GIRL NODE: Please help me. Please help me._   
_RIVER: Oh, my God._   
_ANITA: It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer._   
_LUX: She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is Cal._   
_DOCTOR: Cal is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!_   
_LUX: Because she's family! Cal. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show._   
_DOCTOR: So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her._   
_LUX: This is only half a life, of course. But it's for ever._   
_DOCTOR: And then the shadows came._   
_GIRL NODE: The shadows. I have to. I have to save. Have to save._   
_DOCTOR: And she saved them. She saved everyone in the library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe._   
_ANITA: Then why didn't she tell us?_   
_DOCTOR: Because she's forgotten. She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well, me._   
_RIVER: So what do we do?_   
_COMPUTER: Autodestruct in ten minutes._

_[Data core]_

_DOCTOR: Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space._   
_RIVER: Difficult. It'll kill you stone dead._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah, it's easy to criticise._   
_RIVER: It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate._   
_DOCTOR: I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing._   
_RIVER: Doctor!_   
_DOCTOR: I'm right, this works. Shut up. Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as you're here, shut up._   
_RIVER: Oh! I hate you sometimes._   
_DOCTOR: I know!_   
_RIVER: Mister Lux, with me. Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!_   
_(River and Lux leave.)_   
_ANITA: What about the Vashta Nerada?_   
_DOCTOR: These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content._   
_ANITA: So you think they're just going to let us go?_   
_DOCTOR: Best offer they're going to get._   
_ANITA: You're going to make 'em an offer?_   
_DOCTOR: They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her._   
_(He clears her visor to reveal a skull.)_   
_DOCTOR: But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you let them pass._   
_ANITA: How long have you known?_   
_DOCTOR: I counted the shadows. You only have one now. She's nearly gone. Be kind._   
_ANITA: These are our forests. We are not kind._   
_DOCTOR: I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go._   
_ANITA: These are our forests. They are our meat._   
_(Shadows stretch out from Vashta Nerada Anita towards the Doctor.)_   
_DOCTOR: Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up._   
_(There is a pause, then the shadows withdraw.)_   
_ANITA: You have one day._   
_(The spacesuit collapses.)_   
_RIVER: Oh, Anita._   
_DOCTOR: I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go!_   
_RIVER: Lux can manage without me, but you can't._   
_(River punches the Doctor, knocking him out. A little later, River is twisting some wires together.)_   
_COMPUTER: Autodestruct in two minutes._

 

River knocked the Doctor out. When he woke up, he was handcuffed to the wall and River was readying herself to hook herself into the Data Core.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job."

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?"

"Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?"

She smirked. "Spoilers."

"This is not a joke! Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any."

"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download."

"River, please. No."

She chuckled a bit, but struggled not to cry.

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time you've known me, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. We had dinner. The Towers sang, and you cried."

_autodestruct in one minute_

"You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. 'Graduation present', you said. I should have known there was more to it."

The Doctor tried to reach the screwdrivers, but they were just slightly out of reach.

"There's nothing you can do."

"You can let me do this!"

"If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you."

"Time can be rewritten."

"Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare. It's okay. It's okay. It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. All of us and time and space. You watch us run."

"River, you said 'Bad Wolf'."

_autodestruct in ten_

"You whispered it in my ear."

_nine, eight, seven_

"There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone about that."

"Hush, now."

She was crying.

_four, three_

"Spoilers."

_two, one_


	2. The Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only rewritten parts of the episodes.  
> To provide context I use the transcripts from www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho  
> Rights go to the owner of this fantastic site.

**The Time of Angels**

 

_[Field]_

_(A man in a uniform is standing in the middle of a field, with a smudge of lipstick on his face. He appears to be rather dizzy. A man in evening dress walks up to him.)_  
_GUARD: It's a beautiful day._  
_(The man in evening dress wipes the lipstick with the corner of his handkerchief.)_

_[Corridor]_

_ALISTAIR: Hallucinogenic lipstick. She's here._  
_(A woman strides along in a evening dress and ridiculously high heels. She shoots out a door lock with a small pistol and enters a small strong room. She then converts the pistol into an acetylene torch and cuts into the surface of a box.)_

_[Museum]_

_(12,000 years later. The Doctor is commenting on the labelling of the various exhibits.)_  
_DOCTOR: Wrong. Wrong. Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums._  
_AMY: Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship? Churchill's bunker? You promised me a planet next._  
_DOCTOR: Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks. The biggest museum ever._  
_AMY: You've got a time machine. What do you need museums for?_  
_DOCTOR: Wrong. Very wrong. Ooo, one of mine. Also one of mine._  
_AMY: Oh, I see. It's how you keep score._  
_(The Doctor is very taken by a square box in a case.)_  
_AMY: Oh great, an old box._  
_DOCTOR: It's from one of the old starliners. A Home Box._  
_AMY: What's a Home Box?_  
_DOCTOR: Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data._  
_AMY: So?_  
_DOCTOR: The writing, the graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords._  
_(Which, we discover, is what the woman was burning into the surface of the box 12,000 years ago.)_  
_DOCTOR: There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods._  
_AMY: What does it say?_  
_DOCTOR: Hello, sweetie._  
_(Back in the past, River Song winks at a security camera. In the present, an alarm is sounding and guards are chasing the Doctor and Amy back to the Tardis.)_

_[Corridor]_

_ALISTAIR: Party's over, Doctor Song._

_[Tardis]_

_AMY: Why are we doing this?_  
_DOCTOR: Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract my attention. Let's see if we can get the security playback working._  
_(The Doctor has stolen the Home Box. The playback shows River winking at the camera.)_  
_ALISTAIR [OC]: The party's over, Doctor Song_

_[Corridor]_

_ALISTAIR [OC]: Yet still you're on board._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER [OC]: Sorry, Alistair._

_[Corridor]_

_RIVER: I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination._  
_ALISTAIR: Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution._  
_RIVER: Triple seven five_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER [OC]: Slash three four nine by ten._

_[Corridor]_

_RIVER: Zero twelve slash acorn._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER [OC]: Oh, and I could do with an air corridor._  
_(The Doctor inputs the coordinates.)_  
_AMY: What was that? What did she say?_  
_DOCTOR: Coordinates._

_[Corridor]_

_RIVER: Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to._  
_(River is standing in front of an airlock. She blows a kiss and it opens. Alistair and his guards hang onto rails as River is sucked out, backwards. The Tardis materialises in her flight path.)_

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: Whoo!_  
_(He opens the door, holds out his hand and River Song comes sailing in. She lands on top of him.)_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_DOCTOR: River?_  
_RIVER: Follow that ship._  
_(So they do.)_  
_RIVER: They've gone into warp drive. We're losing them. Stay close._  
_DOCTOR: I'm trying._  
_RIVER: Use the stabilisers._  
_DOCTOR: There aren't any stabilisers._  
_RIVER: The blue switches._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, the blue ones don't do anything, they're just blue._  
_RIVER: Yes, they're blue. Look, they're the blue stabilisers._  
_(She presses them and the Tardis stops shaking.)_  
_RIVER: See?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah. Well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers._  
_AMY: Doctor, how come she can fly the Tardis?_  
_DOCTOR: You call that flying the Tardis? Ha!_  
_RIVER: Okay. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side._  
_DOCTOR: Parked us? We haven't landed._  
_RIVER: Of course we've landed. I just landed her._  
_DOCTOR: But, it didn't make the noise._  
_RIVER: What noise?_  
_DOCTOR: You know, the (wheezing)._  
_RIVER: It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise. Come along, Pond. Let's have a look._  
_RIVER: No, wait. Environment checks._  
_DOCTOR: Oh yes, sorry. Quite right. Environment checks._  
_(The Doctor opens the Tardis door and looks out.)_  
_DOCTOR: Nice out._  
_RIVER: We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that_  
_DOCTOR: We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day and chances of rain later._  
_RIVER: He thinks he's so hot when he does that._  
_AMY: How come you can fly the Tardis?_  
_RIVER: Oh, I had lessons from the very best._  
_DOCTOR: Well, yeah._  
_RIVER: It's a shame you were busy that day. Right then, why did they land here?_  
_DOCTOR: They didn't land._  
_RIVER: Sorry?_  
_DOCTOR: You should've checked the Home Box. It crashed._  
_(River leaves.)_  
_AMY: Explain Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?_  
_DOCTOR: It's a long story and I don't know most of it. Off we go._  
_AMY: What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go._  
_AMY: Are you basically running away?_  
_DOCTOR: Yep._  
_AMY: Why?_  
_DOCTOR: Because she's the future. My future._  
_AMY: Can you run away from that?_  
_DOCTOR: I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me._  
_AMY: Hang on, is that a planet out there?_  
_DOCTOR: Yes, of course it's a planet._  
_AMY: You promised me a planet. Five minutes?_  
_DOCTOR: Okay, five minutes._  
_AMY: Yes!_  
_DOCTOR: But that's all, because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything._

_[Planet surface]_

_(The once sleek spaceship is a burning wreck sticking out of a rock-carved building.)_  
_AMY: What caused it to crash?_  
_RIVER: Not me._  
_DOCTOR: Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors._  
_RIVER: A phase shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them._  
_DOCTOR: About what?_  
_RIVER: Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries._  
_AMY: Aren't you going to introduce us?_  
_DOCTOR: Amy Pond, Professor River Song._  
_RIVER: Ah, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I? How exciting. Spoilers._  
_AMY: Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum._  
_RIVER: Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum. The Home Box of category four starliner and sooner or later, him. It's how he keeps score._  
_AMY: I know._  
_RIVER: It's hilarious, isn't it?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm nobody's taxi service. I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship._  
_RIVER: And you are so wrong. There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die. Now he's listening._  
_(River uses her communicator.)_  
_RIVER: You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal. Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon._  
_(He does, grudgingly.)_  
_AMY: Ooo, Doctor, you sonicked her._  
_RIVER: We have a minute. Shall we?_  
_(She gets out her Tardis-style diary.)_  
_RIVER: Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?_  
_AMY: What's the book?_  
_DOCTOR: Stay away from it._  
_AMY: What is it though?_  
_DOCTOR: Her diary._  
_RIVER: Our diary._  
_DOCTOR: Her past, my future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order._  
_(Four small tornadoes kick up the dust and turn into four soldiers.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: You promised me an army, Doctor Song._  
_RIVER: No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor._  
_OCTAVIAN: Father Octavian, Sir. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?_  
_RIVER: Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?_

_[Camp]_

_(Night had fallen and the rest of the troops have arrived with their supplies in a small drop ship, like a container unit. They have set up camp around it.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this, behind the cliff face there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, good._  
_OCTAVIAN: Good, sir?_  
_DOCTOR: Catacombs. Probably dark ones. Dark catacombs. Great._  
_OCTAVIAN: Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead._  
_DOCTOR: You can stop any time you like._  
_SOLDIER [OC]: Father Octavian?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Excuse me, sir._  
_(Octavian leaves.)_

 

Amy looked at him, suspiciously. "You're letting people call you sir. You never do that. So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting. You're still here. Which part of wait in the Tardis till I tell you it's safe was so confusing?"

"Ooo, you are all Mister Grumpy Face today."

"A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and right now one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day. That's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

Of course Amy jumped at the opportunity. "Is River Song your wife? Because she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kind of like, you know, _heel, boy_. She's Mrs Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she going to be your wife one day?"

"No, she isn't. Can't be. I hope she isn't anyways."

"You hope? Is she that bad? Or are you afraid of commitment?"

"Yes, you're right. I am definitely Mister Grumpy Face today."

 

_(River calls from the drop module. She has changed into combat fatigues.)_  
_RIVER: Doctor! Doctor?_  
_AMY: Oops. Her indoors._  
_RIVER: Father Octavian._  
_AMY: Why do they call him Father?_  
_DOCTOR: He's their Bishop, they're his Clerics. It's the fifty first Century. The Church has moved on._

_[Drop ship]_

_(A grainy image of a Weeping Angel with its back towards them is on a monitor on the far wall.)_  
_RIVER: What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face._  
_OCTAVIAN: You've encountered the Angels before._  
_DOCTOR: Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving._  
_AMY: But it's just a statue._  
_RIVER: It's a statue when you see it._  
_DOCTOR: Where did it come from?_  
_RIVER: Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time._  
_DOCTOR: There's a difference between dormant and patient._  
_AMY: What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?_  
_RIVER: The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen. So legend has it._  
_DOCTOR: No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defence mechanism._  
_AMY: What, being a stone?_  
_DOCTOR: Being a stone until you turn your back._

_[Camp]_

_DOCTOR: The hyperdrive would've split on impact. That whole ship's going to be flooded with drive burn radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms. Deadly to almost any living thing._  
_OCTAVIAN: Deadly to an Angel?_  
_DOCTOR: Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it there, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?_  
_RIVER: The Aplans. Indigenous life form. They died out four hundred years ago._  
_OCTAVIAN: Two hundred years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonists._  
_DOCTOR: Whoo! You lot, you're everywhere. You're like rabbits. I'll never get done saving you._  
_OCTAVIAN: Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load._  
_OCTAVIAN: Verger, how are we doing with those explosives? Doctor Song, with me._  
_RIVER: Two minutes. Sweetie, I need you._  
_DOCTOR: Sweetie?_  
_AMY: Anybody need me? Nobody?_  
_(Amy goes back into the Module and looks at the image of the Angel on the monitor. It's face is raised from his hands and starting to look over its shoulder.)_  
_RIVER: I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman. It's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages._  
_(The Doctor riffles through the pages of the book.)_  
_DOCTOR: Not bad. Bit slow in the middle. Didn't you hate his girlfriend? No. No, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait._  
_(He sniffs the book.)_  
_AMY: Doctor Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?_  
_RIVER: No, just the four seconds._

 

"This book is wrong. What's wrong with this book? It's wrong." He tried to concentrate, but River was staring at him from the side and it made him uncomfortable.

"It's so strange when you go all baby face. How early is this for you?"

"Very early."

"So you don't know who I am yet?"

"How do you know who I am? I don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order, though. I need the spotter's guide."

Oh, that was it. "Pictures. Why aren't there pictures?"

 

_[Drop ship]_

_(Amy tries turning off the monitor, but it comes back on again, and again, and again. She moves close to the monitor.)_  
_AMY: But you're just a recording. You can't move._  
_(She tries to pull out the lead to the monitor. When she looks back up, the Angel is up close to the camera, but the time stamp is still running through the same four seconds.)_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_(Amy cannot open the door. The Angel's mouth is open.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_

_[Camp]_

_DOCTOR: This whole book, it's a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?_  
_RIVER: There was a bit about images. What was that?_  
_DOCTOR: Yes. Hang on. (reads) That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Doctor!_

_[Camp]_

_RIVER: What does that mean? An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel._

_[Drop ship]_

_(A image of the angel is inside.)_  
_AMY: Doctor! It's in the room!_

_[Camp]_

_DOCTOR: Amy!_  
_AMY [OC]: Doctor!_  
_DOCTOR: Are you all right? What's happening?_

_[Drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: Doctor? Doctor, it's coming out of the television._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_AMY [OC]: The Angel is here._  
_(The Doctor sonicks the keypad lock.)_  
_DOCTOR: Don't take your eyes off it. Keep looking. It can't move if you're looking._  
_RIVER: What's wrong?_  
_DOCTOR: Deadlocked._  
_RIVER: There is no deadlock._  
_DOCTOR: Don't blink, Amy. Don't even blink._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Doctor._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_RIVER: What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Cutting the power. It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off. No good, it's deadlocked the whole system._  
_RIVER: There's no deadlock._  
_DOCTOR: There is now._  
_AMY [OC]: Help me!_  
_DOCTOR: Can you turn it off?_

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Doctor._  
_DOCTOR [OC]: The screen. Can you turn it off?_  
_AMY: I tried._  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Try again_

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: But don't take your eyes off the Angel._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: I'm not._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink._  
_(River is trying to cut through the door with her pistol torch.)_

_[Drop ship]_

_(Amy tries closing one eye at a time.)_  
_AMY: I'm not blinking. Have you ever tried not blinking?_  
_(She feels for the remote control.)_  
_AMY: It just keeps switching back on._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: Yeah, it's the Angel._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: But it's just a recording._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel. What are you doing?_  
_RIVER: I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm._  
_DOCTOR: There is no way in. It's not physically possible._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Doctor, what's it going to do to me?_

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Just tell me._

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_(The Doctor runs and gets the book.)_  
_AMY [OC]: Tell me. Tell me!_  
_DOCTOR: Amy, not the eyes._

_[Drop ship]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: Look at the Angel but don't look at the eyes._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Why?_

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_RIVER: What is it?_  
_DOCTOR: (reads) The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Doctor, what did you say?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Don't look at the eyes!_  
_AMY: No, about images. What did you say about images?_

_[Outside the drop ship]_

_RIVER: Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel._

_[Drop ship]_

_AMY: Okay, hold this. One, two, three, four._  
_(Amy presses pause on the remote just as the tape loop returns to the start. The image turns to static. The Doctor and River burst in as the monitor turns off.)_  
_AMY: I froze it. There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an Angel any more. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good._  
_RIVER: That was amazing._  
_DOCTOR: River, hug Amy._  
_AMY: Why?_  
_DOCTOR: Because I'm busy._  
_AMY: I'm fine._  
_RIVER: You're brilliant._  
_AMY: Thanks. Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn't I?_  
_RIVER: So it was here? That was the Angel?_  
_DOCTOR: That was a projection of the Angel. It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant._  
_(There is an explosion outside.)_

_[Camp]_

_CLERIC: Last one positive._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor? We're through._

_[Drop ship]_

_DOCTOR: Okay, now it starts._  
_RIVER: Coming?_  
_AMY: Yeah, coming. There's just something in my eye._

_[Entrance chamber]_

_(Everyone climbs down a rope ladder into a very large underground space.)_  
_DOCTOR: Do we have a gravity globe?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Grav globe._  
_(A Cleric hands a globe to the Doctor.)_  
_AMY: Where are we? What is this?_  
_RIVER: It's an Aplan Mortarium, sometimes called a Maze of the Dead._  
_AMY: What's that?_  
_DOCTOR: Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone_  
_(The Doctor kicks the globe into the air, where it illuminates a vast array of mausoleums and statuary.)_  
_DOCTOR: The perfect hiding place._  
_OCTAVIAN: I guess this makes it a bit trickier._  
_DOCTOR: A bit, yeah._  
_OCTAVIAN: A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for._  
_RIVER: A needle in a haystack._  
_DOCTOR: A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine._  
_OCTAVIAN: Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question. How do we fight it?_  
_DOCTOR: We find it, and hope._  
_(Octavian stops River.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: He doesn't know yet, does he? Who and what you are._  
_RIVER: It's too early in his time stream._  
_OCTAVIAN: Well, make sure he doesn't work it out, or he's not going to help us._  
_RIVER: I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison._  
_CHRISTIAN: Sir? Side chamber. One visible exit._  
_OCTAVIAN: Check it out. Angelo, go with him._

_[Maze]_

_(The Doctor and Amy start up the terraces. She pauses to rub her eye, and stone dust falls out between her fingers.)_  
_RIVER: You all right?_  
_AMY: Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's a Maze of the Dead?_  
_RIVER: Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls. Okay, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm. This won't hurt a bit._  
_(River injects Amy.)_  
_AMY: Ow!_  
_RIVER: There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship._

 

"So what's he like? In the future, I mean. Because you know him in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor."

"Oh. Well, that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

River changed the subject. "Yes, we are."

"Sorry, what?", the Doctor called.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening. I'm busy."

"Ah. The other way up."

He turned River's computer-thingy around.

Amy smirked. "You're so his wife."

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

"Yep."

"You're good. I'm absolutely not saying you're right, but you are very good."

 

 

**Flesh and Stone**

 

_[Tunnel]_

_DOCTOR: Up. Look up._  
_(Everyone struggles to their feet on an artificial surface, although the tunnel walls are the same.)_  
_RIVER: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: What happened?_  
_RIVER: We jumped._  
_AMY: Jumped where?_  
_DOCTOR: Up. Up. Look up._  
_AMY: Where are we?_  
_RIVER: Exactly where we were._  
_AMY: No we're not._  
_DOCTOR: Move your feet._  
_(The Doctor sonicks a circular hatch in the floor, with six inset lights around it.)_  
_AMY: Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?_  
_(The camera moves out and rotates through 180 degrees. Our gallant heroes are standing upside down on the hull of the Byzantium.)_  
_DOCTOR: The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now._  
_DOCTOR: They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army._  
_(The circular hatch opens. A light goes bang.)_  
_DOCTOR: They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you._  
_AMY: How?_  
_(The Doctor drops through the open hatch into a circular corridor. From Amy's point of view, he is standing on the side of a vertical tube.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_DOCTOR: It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move._

_[Corridor]_

_OCTAVIAN [OC]: Okay, men. Go, go, go!_  
_(The Doctor works on a control panel.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?_  
_(The hatch closes.)_  
_DOCTOR: They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished._  
_(A bulkhead further along the corridor starts to close.)_  
_DOCTOR: Run!_  
_OCTAVIAN: This whole place is a death trap._  
_(They don't make it.)_  
_DOCTOR: No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic. Oh, just me then. What's through here?_  
_RIVER: Secondary flight deck._  
_AMY: Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?_  
_DOCTOR: I've thought about that._  
_AMY: And?_  
_DOCTOR: And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible._  
_(River is working.)_  
_RIVER: How impossible?_  
_DOCTOR: Two minutes._  
_(The outer hatch is open.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: The hull is breached and the power's failing._  
_(The lights go out. An arm is silhouetted against the open hatch.)_  
_MARCO: Sir, incoming._  
_AMY: Doctor? Lights._  
_(The Angel is starting to enter. Another flicker, and four are inside and the hatch is closed behind them.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: Clerics, keep watching them._  
_DOCTOR: And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now._  
_OCTAVIAN: Good work, Doctor._  
_DOCTOR: Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far._  
_AMY: So far?_  
_DOCTOR: Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control._  
_OCTAVIAN: Good. Fine. Do it._  
_DOCTOR: Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights._  
_OCTAVIAN: How long for?_  
_DOCTOR: Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer._  
_OCTAVIAN: Maybe?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this._  
_AMY: Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness._  
_DOCTOR: No other way. Bishop._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?_  
_RIVER: I absolutely trust him._  
_OCTAVIAN: He's not some kind of madman, then?_  
_RIVER: I absolutely trust him._  
_DOCTOR: Excuse me._  
_OCTAVIAN: (sotto) I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this guy. But that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?_  
_RIVER: Understood._  
_OCTAVIAN: Okay, Doctor. We've got your back._  
_DOCTOR: Bless you. Bishop._  
_OCTAVIAN: Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste._  
_DOCTOR: Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns._  
_AMY: Ten._  
_DOCTOR: No, four. Four turns._  
_AMY: Yeah, four. I heard you._  
_DOCTOR: Ready!_  
_(He plunges his sonic screwdriver into a control unit.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!_  
_(The lights go out, the Clerics start shooting at the approaching Angels.)_  
_DOCTOR: Turn!_  
_AMY: Doctor, it's opening. It's working._  
_(They get the bulkhead open just enough to squeeze through.)_  
_DOCTOR: Fall back!_  
_(The Doctor is last through the bulkhead. It clangs shut again. They run along a short corridor and into)_

_[Secondary Flight Deck]_

_RIVER: Doctor, quickly._  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_(The Doctor dodges inside at the last second, as the door closes, and runs to the controls. The Angels thump on the door and the wheel starts turning.)_  
_AMY: Doctor! What are you doing?_  
_(Octavian has placed a device on the door. The wheel stops turning.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah?_  
_(The wheel turns.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: Dear God!_  
_DOCTOR: Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time._  
_AMY: Doctor._  
_(The wheel on a second door to the right of the main one starts to turn.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: Seal that door. Seal it now._  
_(Marco obeys.)_  
_RIVER: We're surrounded._  
_(And now the door to the left.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: Seal it. Seal that door. Doctor, how long have we got?_  
_DOCTOR: Five minutes, max._  
_AMY: Nine._  
_DOCTOR: Five._  
_AMY: Five. Right. Yeah._  
_DOCTOR: Why'd you say nine?_  
_AMY: I didn't._  
_RIVER: We need another way out of here._  
_OCTAVIAN: There isn't one._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?_  
_RIVER: Of course._  
_AMY: Of course what? What do they need?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Can we get in there?_  
_DOCTOR: Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps._  
_AMY: What's through there? What do they need?_  
_RIVER: They need to breathe._  
_(The rear wall of the flight deck slides up to reveal -)_  
_AMY: But that's. That's a._  
_RIVER: It's an oxygen factory._  
_AMY: It's a forest._  
_RIVER: Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory._  
_DOCTOR: And if we're lucky, an escape route._  
_AMY: Eight._  
_RIVER: What did you say?_  
_AMY: Nothing._  
_DOCTOR: Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there._  
_OCTAVIAN: On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels._  
_AMY: But trees, on a space ship?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a space ship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?_  
_AMY: Seven._  
_DOCTOR: Seven?_  
_AMY: Sorry, what?_  
_DOCTOR: You said seven._  
_AMY: No. I didn't._  
_RIVER: Yes. you did._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, good. That's where we need to go._  
_OCTAVIAN: Plotting a safe path now._  
_DOCTOR: Quick as you like._  
_BOB [OC]: Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir._  
_DOCTOR: Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject._  
_BOB [OC]: The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve._  
_DOCTOR: Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?_  
_BOB [OC]: The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond._  
_DOCTOR: Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?_  
_BOB [OC]: We have no need of comfy chairs._  
_DOCTOR: I made him say comfy chairs._  
_AMY: Six._  
_DOCTOR: Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?_  
_BOB [OC]: There is something in her eye._  
_DOCTOR: What's in her eye?_  
_BOB [OC]: We are._  
_AMY: What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine._  
_RIVER: You're counting._  
_AMY: Counting?_  
_DOCTOR; You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes._  
_AMY: Why?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know._  
_AMY: Well, counting down to what?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know._  
_BOB [OC]: We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space._  
_DOCTOR: Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much._  
_BOB [OC]: With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand._  
_(There is a screeching sound.)_  
_RIVER: What's that? Dear God, what is it?_  
_OCTAVIAN: They're back._  
_BOB [OC]: It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing._  
_DOCTOR: Laughing?_  
_BOB [OC]: Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor._  
_DOCTOR: No. Wait. There's something I've missed._  
_(A steaming W crack in the bulkhead above the entrance, and it is widening.)_  
_AMY: That's, that's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl._  
_DOCTOR: Yes. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched._  
_OCTAVIAN: Okay, enough. We're moving out._  
_RIVER: Agreed. Doctor?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, fine._  
_RIVER: What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Right with you._  
_(He scans the crack.)_  
_RIVER: We're not leaving without you._  
_DOCTOR: Oh yes, you are. Bishop?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_RIVER: Come on!_  
_DOCTOR: So, what are you? Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good._  
_(He turns around to find himself surrounded by Angels.)_  
_DOCTOR: Do not blink._  
_(One grabs the back of his jacket collar.)_  
_DOCTOR: Argh!_

_[Forest]_

_RIVER: Amy? Amy, what's wrong?_

_[Secondary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Why am I not dead then?_  
_(The Angels are reaching towards the crack.)_  
_DOCTOR: Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure Time Energy. You can't feed on that. That's now power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else._  
_(Bang! The Doctor runs into the forest without his jacket.)_  
_DOCTOR: Never let me talk!_

_[Forest]_

_RIVER: Amy, what's wrong?_  
_AMY: Four._  
_(Amy sways and sits down, then lies on the mossy tree trunk.)_  
_RIVER: Med scanner, now._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving._  
_RIVER: We wait for the Doctor._  
_OCTAVIAN: Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved_  
_RIVER: Father Octavian, when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, yeah._  
_RIVER: I hate you._  
_DOCTOR: You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest._  
_OCTAVIAN: We need visual contact on every line of approach._  
_RIVER: How did you get past them?_  
_DOCTOR: I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe._  
_AMY: What was it?_  
_DOCTOR: The end of the universe. Let's have a look, then._  
_AMY: So, what's wrong with me?_  
_RIVER: Nothing. You're fine._  
_DOCTOR: Everything. You're dying._  
_RIVER: Doctor!_  
_DOCTOR: Yes, you're right. If we lie to her, she'll get all better. Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?_  
_AMY: Doctor._  
_DOCTOR: Busy._  
_AMY: Scared._  
_DOCTOR: Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up._  
_RIVER: Okay, let him think._  
_DOCTOR: What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long_  
_MARCO: Sir! Angel incoming._  
_PHILLIP: And here._  
_OCTAVIAN: Keep visual contact. Do not let it move._  
_DOCTOR: Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and, and_  
_AMY: The image of an Angel is an Angel._  
_DOCTOR: A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind._  
_(The face of an Angel is visible in Amy's pupil.)_  
_AMY: Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die._  
_DOCTOR: Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?_  
_BOB [OC]: To make her afraid, sir._  
_DOCTOR: Okay, but why? What for?_  
_BOB [OC]: For fun, sir._  
_(The Doctor throws the communicator away in annoyance.)_  
_AMY: Doctor, what's happening to me? Explain._  
_DOCTOR: Inside your head, in the vision centres of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off._  
_AMY: Then what I do?_  
_DOCTOR: If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over._  
_RIVER: Then what? Quickly._  
_DOCTOR: We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel._  
_RIVER: Doctor, she's got seconds._  
_DOCTOR: How would you starve your lungs?_  
_RIVER: I'd stop breathing._  
_DOCTOR: Amy, close your eyes._  
_AMY: No. No, I don't want to._  
_DOCTOR: Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes._  
_(Amy squeezes her eyes shut. The med scanner changes from red to green.)_  
_RIVER: She's normalising. Oh, you did it. You did it._  
_PHILLIP: Sir? Two more incoming._  
_PEDRO: Three more over here._  
_RIVER: Still weak. Dangerous to move her._  
_AMY: So, can I open my eyes now?_  
_DOCTOR: Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on._  
_DOCTOR: We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan._  
_RIVER: There's a plan?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is_  
_(He wets a finger and holds it up.)_  
_DOCTOR: A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy._  
_RIVER: How?_  
_DOCTOR: I'll do a thing._  
_RIVER: What thing?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!_

 

Octavian interrupted. "Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection."

"I don't need you."

"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go."

"What?" He looked between the bishop and River. "You two engaged or something?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking." The Doctor couldn't help but smile a bit in relief. So he won't marry her, right?

 

_AMY: Doctor? Please, can't I come with you?_  
_OCTAVIAN: You'd slow us down, Miss Pond._  
_AMY: I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up._  
_DOCTOR: You'll be safer here. We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can, I promise._  
_AMY: You always say that._  
_DOCTOR: I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!_  
_AMY: Yeah. Later._  
_DOCTOR: Amy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important._  
_AMY: But you don't always tell me the truth._  
_DOCTOR: If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me._  
_AMY: Doctor, the crack in my wall. How can it be here?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?_  
_AMY: What did you tell me?_  
_DOCTOR: No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember._  
_AMY: Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?_  
_(The Doctor catches up with Octavian and River, and inputs the readings from his sonic screwdriver into her mini-computer.)_  
_RIVER: What's that?_  
_DOCTOR: Er, readings from a crack in the wall._

 

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?", River asked.

"Don't know, but here's what I think. One day there's going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack."

"Is that possible? How?"

"How can you be engaged, 'in a manner of speaking'?"

"Well, sucker for a man in uniform."

"Doctor Song's in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

So River wasn't engaged. But that didn't mean anything, right? He shouldn't listen to Amy. He would never ever marry someone else.

 

_DOCTOR: You were in Stormcage?_  
_(The computer chirps.)_  
_RIVER: What? What is that?_  
_DOCTOR: The date. The date of the explosion, where the crack begins._  
_RIVER: And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?_  
_(26 06 2010)_  
_DOCTOR: Amy's time._  
_(Back at the mossy log.)_  
_AMY: So, what's happening? Anything happening out there?_  
_(The Angels push their hands into the Treeborgs, and the light starts to flicker.)_  
_MARCO: The Angels are still grouping. Are you getting this too?_  
_PHILLIP: The trees? Yeah._  
_AMY: What's wrong with the trees?_  
_PEDRO: Here too, sir. They're ripping the Treeborgs apart._  
_PHILLIP: And here. They're taking out the lights._  
_AMY: What is it? What's happening? Tell me. I can't see._  
_MARCO: It's the trees. ma'am. The trees are going out._

_[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]_

_OCTAVIAN: It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something._  
_RIVER: Hurry up and open it. Time's running out._  
_DOCTOR: What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?_  
_RIVER: Yeah. I just meant_  
_DOCTOR: I know what you meant. Hush. But what if it could?_  
_RIVER: What if what could?_  
_DOCTOR: Time. What if time could run out?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Got it._

_[Forest]_

_PHILLIP: Angels advancing, sir._  
_PEDRO: Over here again._  
_MARCO: Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it._  
_AMY: What is it? What's happening? Just tell me!_  
_MARCO: Keep your position and, ma'am, keep your eyes shut. Wait._  
_(A bright light floods through the forest.)_  
_MARCO: The ship's not on fire. is it?_  
_PEDRO: It can't be. the compressors would have taken care of it. Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?_  
_AMY: What, the Angels?_  
_PHILLIP: This side's clear too, sir._  
_AMY: The Angels have gone?_  
_MARCO: There's still movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running._  
_AMY: Running from what?_  
_MARCO: Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that._  
_AMY: What are you all looking at? What's there?_

_[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Cracks. Cracks in time. Time running out. No, couldn't be. Couldn't be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognise the Daleks. Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah. Oh!_

_[Forest]_

_MARCO: It's like, I don't know, a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird. Sick._  
_AMY: And you think it scared the Angels?_  
_PEDRO: What could scare those things?_  
_MARCO: What are you doing?_  
_AMY: Point me at the light._  
_MARCO: You can't open your eyes._  
_AMY: I can't open them for more than a second, that's what the Doctor said. Still got a bit of countdown left._  
_MARCO: Ma'am. you can't._  
_AMY: I need to see it. Am I looking the right way? I have to be quick._  
_MARCO: Very quick._  
_(Marco points her at the light.)_  
_AMY: Okay._  
_(Amy opens her eyes.)_  
_AMY: It's the same shape. It's the crack in my wall._  
_MARCO: Close your eyes, now._  
_AMY: It's following me! How can it be following me?_  
_(Amy falls to her knees and Marco puts his hand over her eyes.)_  
_MARCO: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: Yeah. It was the same shape._  
_PEDRO: Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?_  
_MARCO: Go for it. Don't get too close._  
_AMY: Hang on. What about the other two? Why not just wait until they're back?_  
_MARCO: What other two?_  
_AMY: The ones you sent before._  
_MARCO: I didn't send anyone before._  
_AMY: You did, I heard you. Crispin and Phillip._  
_MARCO: Crispin and who?_

_[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]_

_OCTAVIAN: Doctor Song, get through, now. Doctor? Doctor._  
_DOCTOR: Time can be unwritten._

_[Forest]_

_MARCO: Amy, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you._  
_AMY: No, I heard you. Before you sent Pedro, you sent Crispin and Phillip, and now you can't even remember them. Something happened. I don't know what, and you don't even remember._  
_MARCO: Pedro?_  
_AMY: Yeah, before you sent Pedro._  
_MARCO: Who's Pedro?_

_[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: It's been happening all around me and I haven't even noticed._  
_OCTAVIAN: Doctor, we have to move._  
_DOCTOR: The CyberKing. A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers._  
_OCTAVIAN: We have to move it. The Angels could be here any second._  
_DOCTOR: Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels._  
_(An Angel gets its arm around Octavian's throat.)_  
_OCTAVIAN: I beg to differ, sir._  
_DOCTOR: Let him go._  
_OCTAVIAN: Well, it can't let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it._  
_DOCTOR: I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you._  
_OCTAVIAN: It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me._  
_DOCTOR: Can't you wriggle out?_  
_OCTAVIAN: No, it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: Something's happening. Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him._  
_MARCO: There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the two of us here._  
_AMY: No, there were five of us. Why can't you remember?_  
_MARCO: Listen. Listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close._  
_AMY: No. No, you can't. You mustn't._  
_MARCO: Here. Spare communicator. I'll stay in touch the whole time._  
_AMY: You won't, because if you go back there what happened to the others will happen to you._  
_MARCO: There weren't any others._  
_AMY: There won't be any you if you go back there._  
_MARCO: Two minutes. I promise._  
_AMY: Please, just listen to me!_

_[Outside the Primary Flight Deck]_

_OCTAVIAN: Sir, there's nothing you can do._  
_DOCTOR: You're dead if I leave you._  
_OCTAVIAN: Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go_  
_DOCTOR: I'm not going._  
_OCTAVIAN: Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her._  
_DOCTOR: Trust who?_  
_OCTAVIAN: River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is._  
_DOCTOR: Then tell me._  
_OCTAVIAN: I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends._  
_DOCTOR: Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?_  
_OCTAVIAN: She killed a man. A good man. A hero to many._  
_DOCTOR: Who?_  
_OCTAVIAN: You don't want to know, sir. You really don't._  
_DOCTOR: Who did she kill?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me._  
_DOCTOR: You'll die._  
_OCTAVIAN: I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety._  
_DOCTOR: I wish I'd known you better._  
_OCTAVIAN: I think, sir, you know me at my best._  
_DOCTOR: Ready?_  
_OCTAVIAN: Content._  
_(The Doctor dives through the hatch and closes it.)_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_RIVER: There's a teleport. If I can get it to work. we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?_  
_DOCTOR: Octavian's dead. So is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator._

_[Forest]_

_(Amy uses the communicator.)_  
_AMY: Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?_  
_MARCO [OC]: I'm here. I'm fine. Quite close to it now._  
_AMY: Then come back. Come back now, please._  
_MARCO [OC]: It's weird looking at it. It feels really_  
_AMY: Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello? Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Amy? Amy? Is that you?_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_AMY [OC]: Doctor?_  
_DOCTOR: Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?_  
_AMY [OC]: They've gone._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: No, they wouldn't._  
_RIVER: What is that light?_  
_DOCTOR: Time running out. Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: Well, what do I do now?_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: I can't see. I can't open my eyes._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Turn on the spot._  
_AMY [OC]: Sorry, what?_  
_DOCTOR: Just do it. Turn on the spot._

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: But the Angels, they're everywhere._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: What does the Time Energy do?_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Just keep moving!_

_[Forest]_

_AMY: Tell me._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment_

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: Of your existence. You will never have lived at all._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving._  
_RIVER: It's never going to work._  
_DOCTOR: What else have you got! River! Tell me!_  
_(As Amy makes her way slowly across the uneven forest floor, there is a clanging sound in the ship.)_  
_RIVER: What's that?_  
_DOCTOR: The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the Time Energy, now it's going to feed on them. Amy, listen to me._

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. it'll beep if there's something in your way. You just manoeuvre till the beeping stops._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Because, Amy, this is important._

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: The forest is full of Angels._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: You're going to have to walk like you can see._

_[Forest]_

_AMY: Well, what do you mean?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Look, just keep moving._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_RIVER: That Time Energy, what's it going to do?_  
_DOCTOR: Er, keep eating._  
_RIVER: How do we stop it?_  
_DOCTOR: Feed it._  
_RIVER: Feed it what?_  
_DOCTOR: A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while._  
_RIVER: Like what, for instance?_  
_DOCTOR: Like me, for instance!_

_[Forest]_

_(The communicator beeps.)_  
_AMY: What's that?_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: It's a warning. There are Angels round you now._

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: Amy, listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know_

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: You can do it. The Angels are scared_

_[Forest]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: And running, and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see._

_[Primary Flight Deck]_

_DOCTOR: Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see. You're not moving. You have to do this. Now. You have to do this!_

_[Forest]_

_(Amy threads her way through the group of Angels, then trips over a half-buried tree root. She drops the communicator.)_  
_AMY: Doctor? I can't find the communicator. I dropped it. I can't find it, Doctor. Doctor._  
_(An Angel turns its head towards her.)_  
_AMY: Doctor. Doctor!_  
_(Then another one turns, and another.)_  
_AMY: Doctor._  
_(Amy gets to her feet just as an Angel reaches for her throat. There is a flash of light.)_

 

Suddenly, Amy is in River's arms.

"Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you." She turned to the Doctor. "See? Told you I could get it working"

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you," he declared.

"Don't say things like that. Makes me uncomfortable."

No, not his wife.

 

 

(Here is the [ending](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16437773) with Amy jumping the Doctor.)


	3. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only rewritten parts of the episodes.  
> To provide context I use the transcripts from www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho  
> Rights go to the owner of this fantastic site.

**The Pandorica Opens**

 

_[France 1890]_

_(Night. It is raining. In a bedroom, an unappreciated artist is having a breakdown by his new painting of Still Life with Twelve Sunflowers, dedicated to Amy. His doctor is in attendance.)_  
_GACHET: Vincent, can you hear me? Please._  
_VERNET: It's not enough he goes drinking all round the town. Now the whole neighbourhood has to listen to his screaming._  
_GACHET: He's very ill, Madame Vernet._  
_(Madame Vernet looks at another painting, which we do not get to see.)_  
_VERNET: Look at this, even worse than his usual rubbish. What's it supposed to be?_

_[Cabinet War Rooms, London 1941]_

_(Bracewell brings the picture to the Prime Minister.)_  
_BRACEWELL: It was found behind the wall, in an attic in France. It's genuine. It's a Van Gogh._  
_CHURCHILL: Why bring it to me?_  
_BRACEWELL: Because it's obviously a message, and you can see who it's for._  
_CHURCHILL: Can't say I understand it._  
_BRACEWELL: You're not supposed to understand it, Prime Minister. You're supposed to deliver it._

_[Stormcage Containment Facility 5145]_

_(A guard answers a telephone.)_  
_GUARD: Cell four two six. The Doctor? Do you mean Doctor Song?_  
_(River goes to the bars of her cell.)_  
_RIVER: Give me that. Seriously, just give it to me. I'm entitled to phone calls._  
_(The guard gives her the telephone.)_  
_RIVER: Doctor?_

_[Cabinet War Rooms]_

_CHURCHILL: No, and neither are you. Where is he?_  
_RIVER [OC]: You're phoning the Time Vortex. It doesn't always work. But the Tardis is smart. She's re-routed the call._

_[Stormcage]_

_RIVER: Talk quickly. This connection will last less than a minute._  
_GUARD: Doctor Song. Are you finished with that?_  
_(River returns the telephone with a smile.)_  
_RIVER: You're new here, aren't you?_  
_GUARD: First day._  
_RIVER: Then I'm very sorry._  
_(River pulls him to the bars and kisses him. Later, a group of armed guards run to the cell. The guard is inside, pointing his gun at something.)_  
_GUARD 2: Stay exactly where you are._  
_GUARD: She had the lipstick. The hallucinogenic lipstick. She tried to use it on me. Your tricks don't work in here, Doctor Song._  
_(He is pointing his gun at a stick drawing on the wall with the word 'Bye!' in a bubble.)_

_[The Royal Collection 5145]_

_(Empty frames hang in the empty hallways. River finds the picture she is looking for and tears it out of its frame. She is halfway up a staircase when the lights come on.)_  
_LIZ: This is the Royal Collection, and I'm the bloody Queen. What are you doing here?_  
_RIVER: It's about the Doctor, Ma'am. You met him once, didn't you? I know he came here._  
_LIZ: The Doctor?_  
_RIVER: He's in trouble. I need to find him._  
_LIZ: Then why are you stealing a painting?_  
_RIVER: Look at it. I need to find the Doctor, and I need to show him this._

_[The Maldovarium 5145]_

_(River is at a nightclub table with a blue skinned man.)_  
_DORIUM: Well now, word on the Belt is you're looking for time travel._  
_RIVER: Are you selling?_  
_(Dorium snaps his fingers and an alien brings a box.)_  
_DORIUM: A vortex manipulator, fresh off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent._  
_(He opens the box and sighs.)_  
_DORIUM: I said off the wrist._  
_(The alien takes the box away.)_  
_DORIUM: Not cheap, Doctor Song. Have you brought me a pretty toy?_  
_(She takes off one of her earrings.)_  
_RIVER: This is a Calisto Pulse. It can disarm micro-explosives from up to twenty feet._  
_DORIUM: What kind of micro-explosives?_  
_RIVER: The kind I just put in your wine._

_[Tardis]_

_(Amy is studying the engagement ring that she found in the Doctor's jacket pocket.)_  
_DOCTOR: Vavoom!_  
_AMY: Va-what?_  
_DOCTOR: I can't believe I've never thought of this before. It's genius. Right. Landed. Come on._  
_AMY: Where are we?_  
_DOCTOR; Planet One. The oldest planet in the universe. And there's a cliff of pure diamond, and according to legend, on the cliff there's writing. Letters fifty feet high. A message from the dawn of time And no one knows what it says, because no one's ever translated it._  
_DOCTOR: Till today._  
_AMY: What happens today?_  
_DOCTOR: Us. The Tardis can translate anything. All we have to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history._  
_(So they go outside and read - Hello Sweetie ΘΣ ΦΓΥΔζ )_  
_AMY: Vavoom._

_[Salisbury Plain]_

_(The Tardis materialises at the edge of a wood, on a hill.)_  
_AMY: Right place?_  
_DOCTOR: Just followed the co-ordinates on the cliff face. Earth. Britain. one oh two am. No, pm. No, AD._  
_(They are looking down on a Roman camp.)_  
_AMY: That's a Roman Legion._  
_DOCTOR: Well, yeah. The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period._  
_AMY: Oh, I know. My favourite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians. Yeah, I did get marked down for the title._  
_(A soldier runs up and salutes.)_  
_CLAUDIO: Hail, Caesar!_  
_DOCTOR: Hi._  
_CLAUDIO: Welcome to Britain. We are honoured by your presence._  
_DOCTOR: Well, you're only human. Arise, Roman person._  
_AMY: Why does he think you're Caesar?_  
_(Claudio has a smear of lipstick on his face.)_  
_CLAUDIO: Cleopatra will see you now._

 

The entrance of the tent was held open for them. Steppig inside, the Doctor saw River, dressed as an Egyptian queen and being served by various Roman soldiers.

"Hello, sweetie."

Amy did not sound overly surprised. "River. Hi."

The Doctor looked at her disapprovingly before accusing, "You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe."

" _You_ wouldn't answer your phone."

"Why am I Caesar anyways? I don't like what that implies." ~~( **A/N** : If you didn't know, Caesar and Cleopatra had an affair.)~~

"I don't either. The Roman made that up himself,I just wanted to be Cleopatra."

She clapped and a Roman handed her a scroll, that she in turn handed to the Doctor.

 

_(Her slaves leave and she offers the Doctor the rolled up painting.)_  
_DOCTOR: What's this?_  
_RIVER: It's a painting. Your friend Vincent. One of his final works. He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one._  
_AMY: Doctor? Doctor, what is this?_  
_(It is a version of Starry Night, with an exploding Tardis in the middle. After the titles, the three are galloping along on horseback. Meanwhile -)_  
_AMY: Why is it exploding?_  
_RIVER: I assume it's some kind of warning._  
_AMY: What, something's going to happen to the Tardis?_  
_RIVER: It might not be that literal. Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?_  
_DOCTOR: Does it have a title?_  
_RIVER: The Pandorica Opens._  
_(Still galloping.)_  
_DOCTOR [on horseback]: Come on. Ya!_  
_AMY: The Pandorica? What is it?_  
_RIVER: A box, a cage, a prison. It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe._  
_DOCTOR: And it's a fairy tale, a legend. It can't be real._  
_RIVER: If it is real, it's here and it's opening, and it's got something to do with your Tardis exploding. Hidden, obviously. Buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map._  
_DOCTOR: No, but if you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe, you'd want to remember where you put it._

_[Stonehenge]_

_(The riders arrive and run inside the circle. The Doctor and River start scanning the stones)_  
_AMY: How come it's not new?_  
_RIVER: Because it's already old. It's been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long._  
_AMY: Okay, this Pandorica thing. Last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium._  
_RIVER: Spoilers._  
_AMY: No, but you told the Doctor you'd see him again when the Pandorica opens._  
_RIVER: Maybe I did, but I haven't yet. But I will have. Doctor, I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site._  
_DOCTOR: If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that. Maybe even fight over it. We need to get down there._  
_(Night time. River places a device on each corner of the Altar stone.)_  
_RIVER: Right then. Ready._  
_(There is a sound of machinery moving, then the Altar stone moves aside to reveal a staircase down into the ground.)_  
_DOCTOR: The Underhenge._  
_(As they go down, a nearby severed Cyberman head twitches.)_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The Doctor lights a handy torch with his sonic screwdriver. He lights another for River and they unbar a big door, then enter.)_  
_DOCTOR: It's a Pandorica._  
_(It is a big square monument with a circular design on each face.)_  
_RIVER: More than just a fairy tale._  
_(The Doctor's foot touches a Cyberman's severed arm lying in the dust of the floor.)_  
_DOCTOR: There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world._  
_AMY: How did it end up in there?_  
_DOCTOR: You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it._  
_RIVER: I hate good wizards in fairy tales. They always turn out to be him._  
_AMY: So, it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then? Almost the same name._  
_DOCTOR: Sorry, what?_  
_AMY: The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favourite book when I was a kid. What's wrong?_  
_DOCTOR: Your favourite school topic. Your favourite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence._  
_RIVER: So can you open it?_  
_DOCTOR: Easily. Anyone can break into a prison. But I'd rather know what I'm going to find first._  
_RIVER: You won't have long to wait. It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside._  
_DOCTOR: How long do we have?_  
_RIVER: Hours at the most._  
_DOCTOR: What kind of security?_  
_RIVER: Everything. Deadlocks, time stops, matter lines._  
_DOCTOR: What could need all that?_  
_RIVER: What could get past all that?_  
_DOCTOR: Think of the fear that went into making this box. What could inspire that level of fear? Hello, you. Have we met?_  
_RIVER: So why would it start to open now?_  
_DOCTOR: No idea._  
_AMY: Ahem, And how could Vincent have known about it? He won't even be born for centuries._  
_DOCTOR: The stones. These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening._  
_RIVER: Doctor, everyone everywhere?_  
_DOCTOR: Even poor Vincent heard it, in his dreams. But what's in there? What could justify all this?_  
_RIVER: Doctor, everyone?_  
_DOCTOR: Anything that powerful, I'd know about it. Why don't I know?_  
_RIVER: Doctor, you said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh._  
_AMY: Oh? Oh, what?_  
_RIVER: Okay. If it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal._  
_DOCTOR: Doing it._  
_(The Doctor goes around the bases of the Sarsen stones with his sonic screwdriver.)_  
_AMY: Doing what?_  
_RIVER: Stonehenge is transmitting. It's been transmitting for a while, so who heard?_  
_DOCTOR: Okay, should be feeding back to you now. River, what's out there?_  
_RIVER: Give me a moment._  
_DOCTOR: River, quickly. Anything?_  
_RIVER: Around this planet there are at least ten thousand starships._  
_AMY: At least?_  
_RIVER: Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, I don't know. There's too many readings._  
_DOCTOR: What kind of starships?_  
_DALEK [OC]: Maintaining orbit._  
_DALEK 2 [OC]: I obey. Shield cover compromised on ion sectors._  
_AMY: Daleks. Those are Daleks._  
_DALEK [OC]: Scan detects no temporal activity._  
_DALEK 2 [OC]: Soft grid scan commencing._  
_DALEK [OC]: Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilisation._  
_RIVER: Daleks, Doctor._  
_DALEK [OC]: Launch preliminary armaments protocol._  
_DOCTOR: Yes. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet, minimum twelve thousand battleships, armed to the teeth. Ah! But we've got surprise on our side. They'll never expect three people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battleships. Because we'd be killed instantly. So it would be a fairly short surprise. Forget surprise._  
_CYBERMAN [OC]: Course correction proceeding.)_  
_RIVER: Doctor, Cyberships._  
_DOCTOR: No, Dalek ships. Listen to them. Those are Dalek ships._  
_RIVER: Yes. Dalek ships and Cyberships._  
_DOCTOR: Well, we need to start a fight, turn them on each other. I mean, that's easy. It's the Daleks. They're so cross._  
_RIVER: Sontaran. Four battlefleets._  
_DOCTOR: Sontarans! Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?_  
_RIVER: Terileptil. Slitheen, Chelonian, Nestene, Drahvin. Sycorax, Haemogoth, Zygon, Atraxi, Draconian. They're all here for the Pandorica._  
_DOCTOR: What are you? What could you possibly be?_

_[Stonehenge]_

_(Lots of spaceships are buzzing around in the sky.)_  
_AMY: What do we do?_  
_RIVER: Doctor, listen to me. Everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run._  
_DOCTOR: Run where?_  
_RIVER: Fight how?_  
_DOCTOR: The greatest military machine in the history of the universe._  
_AMY: What is? The Daleks?_  
_DOCTOR: No. No, no, no, no, no. The Romans._

_[Cleopatra's tent]_

_(River returns to the Roman camp and is taken prisoner.)_  
_COMMANDER: So. I return to my command after one week and discover we've been playing host to Cleopatra. Who's in Egypt. And dead._  
_RIVER: Yes. Funny how things work out._  
_(A spaceship buzzes them.)_  
_COMMANDER: The sky is falling and you make jokes. Who are you?_  
_RIVER: When you fight Barbarians, what must they think of you?_  
_COMMANDER: Oh, riddles now._  
_RIVER: Where do they think you come from?_  
_COMMANDER: A place more deadly and more powerful and more impatient than their tiny minds can imagine._  
_(River uses her gun to disintegrate a wooden stand filled with ornaments.)_  
_RIVER: Where do I come from? Your world has visitors. You're all Barbarians now._  
_COMMANDER: What is that? Tell me what?_  
_RIVER: A fool would say the work of the Gods, but you've been a soldier too long to believe there are Gods watching over us. There is, however, a man. And tonight he's going to need your help._  
_MAN [OC]: Sir?_  
_COMMANDER: One moment._  
_(The Commander has a whispered conference with a shady Centurion.)_  
_COMMANDER: Well, it seems you have a volunteer._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_AMY: So what's this got to do with the Tardis?_  
_DOCTOR: Nothing, as far as I know._  
_AMY: But Vincent's painting. The Tardis was exploding. Is that going to happen?_  
_DOCTOR: One problem at a time. There's forcefield technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour._  
_AMY: What good is half an hour?_  
_DOCTOR: There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom Six that live for twenty minutes and they don't even mate for life. There was going to be a point to that. I'll get back to you._  
_(Amy takes the ring box from her pocket.)_  
_AMY: So, are you proposing to someone?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm sorry?_  
_AMY: I found this in your pocket._  
_DOCTOR: No. No, no, that's er, a memory. A friend of mine. Someone I lost. Do you mind?_  
_AMY: It's weird. I feel, I don't know, something._  
_DOCTOR: People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals, rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back._  
_AMY: So, was she nice, your friend?_  
_DOCTOR: Remember that night you flew away with me?_  
_AMY: Of course I do._  
_DOCTOR: And you asked me why I was taking you and I told you there wasn't a reason. I was lying._  
_AMY: What, so you did have a reason?_  
_DOCTOR: Your house._  
_AMY: My house._  
_DOCTOR: It was too big. Too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?_  
_(An energy weapon fires at them. It is the severed Cyberman arm. They hide behind the Pandorica.)_  
_AMY: What was that?_  
_DOCTOR: Okay, I need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target._  
_AMY: How?_  
_DOCTOR: You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?_  
_AMY: Yes._  
_DOCTOR: Sorry._  
_(The Doctor runs out.)_  
_DOCTOR: Look at me, I'm a target!_  
_(He gets shot at and hides behind the base of a Sarsen.)_  
_AMY: What is that?_  
_DOCTOR: Cyberarm. Arm of Cyberman._  
_AMY: And what's a Cyberman?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, sort of part man, part robot. The organic part must have died out years ago. Now the robot part is looking for, well, fresh meat._  
_AMY: What, us?_  
_DOCTOR: It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming. I need to get round behind it. Could you draw its fire?_  
_AMY: What, like you did?_  
_DOCTOR: You'll be fine if you're quick. It's only got one arm, literally._  
_(Amy runs, screaming. The Doctor pounces on the arm.)_  
_DOCTOR: Come here!_  
_(He manages to sonic it.)_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_DOCTOR: Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are, it could be bluffing._  
_AMY: Bluffing? It's an arm._  
_DOCTOR: I said stay where you are!_  
_(Something creeps up behind Amy and lassoes her ankle.)_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_(She is pulled to the floor.)_  
_DOCTOR: Amy!_  
_(The Cyberarm gives the Doctor an electric shock, knocking him out.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_(Amy is being attacked by the Cyberhead. She grabs it by the ears. It fizzles, then the mask pops open to reveal a skull, which falls out. Amy screams. The mask keeps snapping open and shut. She hits it against a Sarsen until it lets her go, then throws it to the floor. It crawls away.)_  
_AMY: Doctor?_  
_(The Cyberhead fires a little dart into Amy's neck.)_  
_CYBERHEAD: You will be assimilated._  
_AMY: Yeah? You and whose body?_  
_(A headless, armless Cyberman enters. It puts its head back on then goes after the woozy Amy. She backs out through the big doors.)_

_[Underhenge]_

_AMY: Doctor? Doctor?_  
_(A Roman short sword pierces the door, which swings open to reveal the Cyberman skewered to the wood.)_  
_AMY: Who, who are you?_  
_(The Centurion removes his helmet.)_  
_RORY: Hello, Amy._  
_(Amy passes out.)_  
_RORY: Whoa, whoa, whoa._  
_(He catches her in his arms and lays her gently on a stone.)_  
_SOLDIER: Sir, the man's coming round._  
_DOCTOR: Amy? Where's Amy?_  
_RORY: She's fine, Doctor. Just unconscious._  
_DOCTOR: Okay. Yes, she's sedated, that's all. Half an hour, she'll be fine. Okay, Romans. Good. I was just wishing for Romans. Good old River. How many?_  
_RORY: Fifty men up top, volunteers. What about that thing?_  
_DOCTOR: Fifty? You're not exactly a legion._  
_RORY: Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell._  
_DOCTOR: Yes, I know that, Rory. I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious. But we need everything we can get. Okay, Cyberweapons. This is basically a sentry box, so headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt._  
_RORY: Doctor?_  
_DOCTOR: Hush, Rory. Thinking. Why leave a Cyberman on guard, unless it's a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own? Okay, no, not a Cyberthing, but what? What? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory. Something big. Something right slap in front of me. I can feel it._  
_RORY: Yeah, I think you probably are._  
_DOCTOR: I'll get it in a minute._  
_(The Doctor leaves with the weapons, drops them and returns. He prods Rory.)_  
_DOCTOR: Hello again._  
_RORY: Hello._  
_DOCTOR: How've you been?_  
_RORY: Good. Yeah. Good. I mean, Roman._  
_DOCTOR: Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you died._  
_RORY: Yeah, I know. I was there._  
_DOCTOR: You died and then you were erased from time. You didn't just die, you were never born at all. You never existed._  
_RORY: Erased? What does that mean?_  
_DOCTOR: How can you be here?_  
_RORY: I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy._  
_DOCTOR: Fuzzy?_  
_RORY: Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It's very distracting. Did she miss me?_  
_(Something shakes the ground.)_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The circular designs on the Pandorica are glowing green and moving like cog wheels.)_  
_RORY: What is it? What's happening?_  
_DOCTOR: The final phase. It's opening._

_[Salisbury Plain]_

_(River is on her horse, watching the myriad of shining spaceships buzzing Stonehenge in typical Spielberg style.)_  
_RIVER: You're surrounded. Have you got a plan?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Yes. Now hurry up and_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Get the Tardis here. I need equipment. What are you? They're all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?_

_[Stonehenge]_

_DOCTOR [OC]: Sorry, sorry, dropped it. Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news, everyone,_  
_(The Doctor appears on the Altar stone.)_  
_DOCTOR: Because guess who? Ha! Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about. It's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I am talking! The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question. Who's coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me. No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else. I don't have anything to lose! So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first._  
_(The spaceships retreat.)_  
_DOCTOR: That'll keep them squabbling for half an hour. Romans._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Okay._  
_(She dematerialises the Tardis, but it jerks.)_  
_RIVER: What's the matter with you?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_RORY: They're still out there. What do we do now?_  
_DOCTOR: If I can stop whatever's in this box getting out, then they'll go home._  
_RORY: Right._  
_DOCTOR: Rory, I'm sorry. You're going to have to be very brave now._  
_(Amy walks past Rory.)_  
_AMY: Oh, my head._  
_DOCTOR: Ah._  
_AMY: Ah._  
_DOCTOR: Just your basic knock-out drops. Get some fresh air, you'll be fine._  
_AMY: Is it safe up there?_  
_DOCTOR: Not remotely, but it's fresh._  
_AMY: Fine. Oh, you're the guy, yeah? The one who did the swordy thing._  
_RORY: Yeah._  
_AMY: Well, thanks for the swording. Nice swording._  
_(Amy heads out.)_  
_RORY: No problem. My men are up there. They'll look after you._  
_AMY: Good. Love a Roman._  
_RORY: She doesn't remember me. How can she not remember me?_  
_DOCTOR: Because you never existed._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: What are you doing? What's wrong?_  
_(The Tardis lurches down the Time Vortex.)_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: There are cracks. Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it._  
_RORY: So how does that work? What kind of explosion? What exploded?_  
_RIVER [memory]: And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?_  
_DOCTOR [memory]: Amy's time._  
_DOCTOR: Doesn't matter. The cracks are everywhere now. Get too close to them and you can fall right out of the universe._  
_RORY: So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?_  
_DOCTOR: Basically._  
_RORY: Well, how did I end up here?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know, you shouldn't have. What happened? From your point of view, what physically happened?_  
_RORY: I was in the cave, with you and Amy. I was dying, and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman stuff. A whole other life, just here like I'd woken up from a dream. I started to think it was a dream, you and Amy and Leadworth. And then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors. The girl with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, shut up._  
_RORY: What?_  
_(The Doctor throws the ring box to Rory.)_  
_DOCTOR: Go get her._  
_RORY: But I don't understand. Why am I here?_  
_DOCTOR: Because you are. The universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. Nine hundred years, never seen one yet, but this would do me. Now get upstairs. She's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it._

_[Tardis]_

_(The Tardis stops. It is creaking somewhere.)_  
_RIVER: Okay. You okay now?_  
_(River leaves. The scanner lights up. Location: Earth. Date 26/06/2010. Then it breaks, a W shaped crack in the glass.)_  
_VOICE [OC]: Silence will fall._

_[Outside Amy's house]_

_(Night.)_  
_RIVER: Why have you brought me here?_  
_(She finds scorch marks in the lawn, and the front door is hanging off its hinges.)_  
_RIVER: Okay, so something's been here._

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_(She follows her tricorder signal upstairs.)_  
_RIVER: Amy. Oh, Doctor, why do I let you out?_  
_(River finds a copy of The Story of Roman Britain by Amy's bed.)_  
_COMMANDER [memory]: A place more deadly and more powerful and more impatient than their tiny minds can imagine._  
_(And a copy of the Legend of Pandora's box.)_  
_AMY [memory]: So it's kind of like Pandora's box, then? That was my favourite book when I was a kid._  
_RIVER: Oh no._

_[Stonehenge]_

_(Rory goes up to Amy.)_  
_RORY: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: Did the Doctor send you? I'm fine. He just fusses._  
_RORY: You got a blanket. That's good. Who gave you that?_  
_AMY: One of the fellows._  
_RORY: Which one?_  
_AMY: Just one of them. Does it matter?_  
_RORY: No. No. Forget him. It. Forget it._  
_AMY: What's your name?_  
_RORY: I'm Rory. What's wrong?_  
_AMY: Nothing. It's just not what you expect Romans to be called. What's it short for? Roranicus?_  
_RORY: Yeah. You're crying._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The Doctor contacts River.)_  
_DOCTOR: The Tardis, where is it? Hurry up._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen._

_[Stonehenge]_

_RORY: Hey, what's wrong?_  
_AMY: Nothing. It's like, it's like I'm happy. Why am I happy?_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: They're not real. They can't be. They're all right here in the story book. Those actual Romans. The ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house. A children's picture book._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: What are you even doing there?_  
_RIVER [OC]: It doesn't matter. The Tardis went wrong._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Doctor, how is this possible?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Something's using her memories. Amy's memories._  
_RIVER [OC]: But how?_  
_DOCTOR: You said something had been there._  
_RIVER [OC]: Yes._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: There's burn marks on the grass outside._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_RIVER [OC]: Landing patterns._  
_DOCTOR: If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories. But why?_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Doctor, who are those Romans?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Projections, or duplicates._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Doctor, that Centurion._  
_(River has found a photograph of Amy in her policewoman outfit with Rory dressed as a Roman.)_

_[Stonehenge]_

_RORY: What's the matter?_  
_AMY: Nothing. I don't know why I'm doing that._  
_RORY: It's me. Amy, please. It's me._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: It's a trap. It has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense._

_[Tardis]_

_(Something goes Bang.)_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: River? River?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: River, what's happening?_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: I don't know. It's the engines. Doctor, there's something wrong with the Tardis, like something else is controlling it._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: You're flying it wrong._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: I'm flying it perfectly. You taught me._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Where are you? What's the date reading?_

_[Tardis]_

_It's the 26th of June, 2010._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: You need to get out of there now. Any other time zone._

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR [OC}: Just go._  
_RIVER: I can't break free._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Well, then shut down the Tardis. Shut down everything!_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: I can't!_  
_VOICE [OC]: Silence will fall. Silence will fall._

_[Stonehenge]_

_AMY: But I don't know you, I've never seen you before in my life._  
_RORY: You have. You know you have. It's me._  
_AMY: Why am I crying?_  
_RORY: Because you remember me. I came back. You're crying because you remember me._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Someone else is flying it. An external force. I've lost control._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: But how? Why?_  
_(A high pitched noise fills the chamber and the Romans slump over for a moment, then reactivate.)_  
_DOCTOR: Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now. There are cracks in time. I've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider. The Tardis exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: It's not safe._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The Pandorica starts to open. A brilliant white light floods out.)_  
_DOCTOR: Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?_

_[Stonehenge]_

_RORY: Argh! No! No, please. No! I'm not going. I'm Rory!_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Doctor?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_RIVER [OC]: I'm down._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: I've landed._  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Okay, just walk out of the doors. If there's no one inside, the Tardis engines shut down automatically._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Just get out of there._  
_RIVER [OC]: I'm going._  
_DOCTOR: Run!_  
_(The Roman's fingers drop away from their hands to reveal weapons. They are Autons.)_  
_RIVER [OC]: Doctor! Doctor, I can't open the doors!_  
_(The Doctor sees the Autons.)_  
_DOCTOR: Amy!_

_[Stonehenge]_

_RORY: Listen to me. You have to run. You have to get as far away from here as you can. I'm a thing! I'll kill you. Just go! Please, no, I don't want to go. I'm Rory! I'm, I'm_  
_AMY: Williams. Rory Williams from Leadworth. My boyfriend. How could I ever forget you?_  
_RORY: Amy, you've got to run. I can't hold on. I'm going._  
_AMY: You are Rory Williams and you aren't going anywhere ever again._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Doctor, I can't open the doors! Doctor, please, I've got seconds!_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?_  
_(River hooks the Tardis engines to the main door handles.)_  
_MARCELLUS: The Pandorica is ready._  
_DOCTOR: What, do you mean it's open?_  
_(The White allegedly Supreme new style Dalek trundles forward.)_  
_WHITE: You have been scanned, assessed, understood, Doctor._  
_(Red and Yellow beam in behind it.)_

_[Stonehenge]_

_AMY: The ring. Remember the ring? You'd never let me wear it in case I lost it._  
_RORY: The Doctor gave it to me._  
_AMY: Show it to me. Show me the ring._  
_RORY: Amy._  
_AMY: Come on. Just show it to me._  
_(Rory obeys.)_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_DOCTOR: Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?_  
_WHITE: Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated._  
_(Cybermen, Judoon and Sontarans beam down.)_  
_STARK: The Pandorica is ready._  
_DOCTOR: Ready for what?_  
_WHITE: Ready for you._  
_(The Doctor struggles against the grip of two Romans.)_

_[Stonehenge]_

_AMY: There it is. You remember. This is you, and you are staying._  
_(Rory's gun hand activates.)_  
_RORY: No._  
_(He shoots Amy.)_  
_RORY: No! No! No!_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(River tries frantically to escape the Tardis as the Doctor is dragged closer and closer to the Pandorica, then fastened into the seat inside it. His arms, torso and head are clamped in place and all his old enemies stare at him.)_  
_DOCTOR: You lot, working together. An alliance. How is that possible?_  
_WHITE: The cracks in the skin of the universe._  
_STARK: All reality is threatened._  
_CYBERLEADER: All universes will be deleted._  
_DOCTOR: What? And you've come to me for help?_  
_STARK: No. We will save the universe from you!_  
_DOCTOR: From me?_  
_CYBERLEADER: All projections correlate. All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe._  
_DOCTOR: No, no, no. You've got it wrong._  
_CYBERLEADER: The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance._  
_WHITE: A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion._  
_STARK: A trap the Doctor could not resist._  
_WHITE: The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed._  
_DOCTOR: No. no, no, not me, the Tardis. And I'm not in the Tardis, am I?_  
_WHITE: Only the Doctor can pilot the Tardis._  
_DOCTOR: Please, listen to me!_  
_WHITE: You will be prevented._  
_DOCTOR: Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please, listen to me!_  
_CYBERLEADER: Seal the Pandorica._  
_DOCTOR: No! Please, listen to me! The Tardis is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it! Listen to me!_  
_(The Pandorica closes.)_

 

River connected the cables, turned the lever and ran towards the door. Opening it, she only saw a brick wall. "I'm sorry, sweeties."

 

 

**The Big Bang**

 

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_(1,894 years later... and one star at least is still burning brightly._  
_Night. The red pinwheel turns in the breeze in the garden. Upstairs, a little red haired girl is saying her prayers.)_  
_AMELIA: Dear Santa. Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I don't wake you, but, honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not, because at night there's voices. So, please, please, could you send someone to fix it, or a policeman, or_  
_(A strange wind whistles outside.)_  
_AMELIA: Back in a moment._  
_(She runs to the window, but there is nothing there. The moon hangs in a starless sky.)_

_[Living room]_

_(The nice lady psychiatrist is looking at a painting of the moon and stars.)_  
_CHRISTINE: It's a lovely painting, Amelia. And what are all these?_  
_AMELIA: Stars._  
_SHARON: Oh, Amelia._  
_CHRISTINE: Tell you what, shall we go outside?_

_[Outside the house]_

_CHRISTINE: What do you see, Amelia?_  
_AMELIA: The moon._  
_CHRISTINE: And what else?_  
_AMELIA: Just the dark._  
_CHRISTINE: But no stars. If there were stars up there, we'd be able to see them, wouldn't we? Amelia, look at me. You know this is all just a story, don't you? You know there's no such thing as stars._

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_(Amy listens to the adult voices downstairs.)_  
_CHRISTINE [OC]: But there's bound to be a bit of her that feels alone. Amelia's a really good person._

_[Staircase]_

_CHRISTINE [OC]: It's quite common, actually. Throughout history, people have talked about seeing stars in the sky. God knows where it comes from._  
_SHARON [OC]: I just don't want her growing up and joining one of those Star Cults. I don't trust that Richard Dawkins._  
_(Christine and Sharon walk across the hallway from the kitchen to the living room. Someone in a red fez puts a leaflet through the door. Amelia runs down to get it. It is titled The Anomaly, and features the Pandorica at the National Museum. Someone has written on it in red ink - Come along, Pond.)_

_[National Museum]_

_AMELIA: Come on, Aunt Sharon._  
_SHARON: Oh, look at that. That's good, isn't it?_  
_AMELIA: Not that. This way._  
_SHARON; But we're not looking at anything._  
_AMELIA: This way!_  
_SHARON: Amelia!_

_[Anomaly Exhibition]_

_(Amelia stops to look at the exhibit of petrified Daleks, then pushes through the people standing looking at the Pandorica. Someone snatches her Original Cola drink from her. Suddenly there is a post-it note on the Pandorica, saying Stick around, Pond.)_  
_SHARON [OC]: Amelia!_  
_(Amelia runs to hide.)_  
_SHARON: Amelia? Amelia?_  
_(Closing time.)_  
_SHARON; Amelia!_  
_TANNOY: Amelia Pond, please go to the reception, please. Your aunt is waiting for you there. Amelia Pond, please go to reception._  
_(Later still, Amelia creeps out from the Penguin display, knocking some over.)_  
_AMELIA: Sorry._  
_(She returns to the Pandorica and removes the post-it note. He puts her hand on the Pandorica and starts to open. Amelia backs away. The person inside speaks to her.)_  
_AMY: Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated._

_[Stonehenge]_

_(1,894 years previously... Rory has the body of Amy lying across his lap, Pieta-style.)_  
_RORY: So the universe ended. You missed that, in 102 AD. I suppose this means you and I never get born at all. Twice, in my case. You would have laughed at that. Please laugh. The Doctor said the universe was huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there were miracles. I could do with a ridiculous miracle about now._  
_(The Doctor pops in from thin air, wearing a red fez and carrying a mop.)_  
_DOCTOR: Rory! Listen, she's not dead. Well, she is dead, but it's not the end of the world. Well, it is the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the universe. Oh, no. Hang on._  
_(The Doctor vanishes again.)_  
_RORY: Doctor? Doctor!_  
_(He reappears, without the mop.)_  
_DOCTOR: You need to get me out of the Pandorica._  
_RORY: But you're not in the Pandorica._  
_DOCTOR: Yes, I am. Well, I'm not now, but I was back then. Well, back now from your point of view, which is back then from my point of view. Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's easy to open from the outside. Just point and press._  
_(The Doctor gives Rory his sonic screwdriver.)_  
_DOCTOR: Now go._  
_(The Doctor vanishes and returns.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, and when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket. Good luck._  
_(And vanishes again.)_  
_RORY: What do you mean? Done what?_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(Rory opens the Pandorica with the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor is released from the chair.)_  
_DOCTOR: How did you do that?_  
_RORY: You gave me this._  
_(The Doctor takes his screwdriver from his own pocket.)_  
_DOCTOR: No, I didn't._  
_RORY: You did. Look at it._  
_(The Doctor touches his screwdriver to Rory's. They spark.)_  
_DOCTOR: Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future. That's nice. That's not._  
_(The Daleks are fossilised.)_  
_RORY: Yeah. What are they?_  
_(Everyone who was in the chamber when the universe ended has been fossilised.)_  
_DOCTOR: History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were._  
_RORY: Er, what does that mean?_  
_DOCTOR: Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened._  
_RORY: So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?_  
_DOCTOR: Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out. Amy. Where's Amy?_

_[Stonehenge]_

_RORY: I killed her._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, Rory._  
_RORY: Doctor, what am I?_  
_DOCTOR: You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity._  
_RORY: But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory._  
_DOCTOR: That's software talking._  
_RORY: Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, probably, if I had the time._  
_RORY: The time?_  
_DOCTOR: All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe._  
_(Rory punches the Doctor.)_  
_RORY: She is to me!_  
_DOCTOR: Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning._

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The Doctor places Amy in the Pandorica.)_  
_RORY: So you've got a plan, then?_  
_DOCTOR: Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul._  
_(The Doctor mind-melds with Amy.)_  
_DOCTOR: I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening._  
_(The Doctor seals Amy inside the Pandorica.)_  
_RORY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm saving her. This box is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive._  
_RORY: But she's already dead._  
_DOCTOR: Well, she's mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. Now, all it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her._  
_RORY: Where's it going to get that?_  
_DOCTOR: In about two thousand years._

_[Anomaly Exhibition]_

_(Amy falls out of the Pandorica, gasping.)_  
_AMELIA: Are you all right? Who are you?_  
_AMY: I'm fine. I'm supposed to rest. Got to rest, the Doctor says._  
_AMELIA: What doctor?_  
_(Amy taps her head.)_  
_DOCTOR: He's in here. Left a message in my head like I'm an answerphone. Where am I? Hang on. National Museum, right? I was here once when I was a little_  
_(And the penny drops.)_  
_AMY: Yeah, complicated. Let's see, it's what, 1996?_  
_AMELIA: Who are you?_  
_AMY: It's a long story. Oh. A very long story._  
_(The Pandorica Seen Through Time is on a display board. 118AD taken back to Rome under armed guard. 420AD Raided by the Franks. 1120AD Prized possession of the Knights Templar. 1231 Donated to the Vatican.)_

_[Pandorica chamber]_

_(The Doctor takes River's vortex manipulator from her bag and straps it to his wrist.)_  
_RORY: She's going to be in that box for two thousand years?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine._  
_RORY: So hang on. The future's still there, then. Our world._  
_DOCTOR: A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look. You put your hand there. Don't worry. Should be safe._  
_RORY: That's not what I'm worried about._  
_DOCTOR: She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box._  
_RORY: Well, you got in there._  
_DOCTOR: Well, there's only one of me. I counted._  
_RORY: This box needs a guard. I killed the last one._  
_DOCTOR: No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it._  
_RORY: She'll be all alone._  
_DOCTOR: She won't feel it._  
_RORY: You bet she won't._  
_DOCTOR: Two thousand years, Rory. You won't even sleep. you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad._  
_RORY: Will she be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer._  
_DOCTOR: Rory, you_  
_RORY: Answer me!_  
_DOCTOR: Yes. Obviously._  
_RORY: Then how could I leave her?_  
_DOCTOR: Why do you have to be so human?_  
_RORY: Because right now, I'm not._  
_DOCTOR: Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but you're not immortal. I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of_  
_(The Doctor vanishes. Rory puts on his helmet, draws his sword and settles down to the longest stint of guard duty in history.)_  
_NARRATOR [OC]: According to legend, wherever the Pandorica was taken, throughout its long history, the Centurion would be there, guarding it._

_[Anomaly Exhibition]_

_(An audio visual presentation of the history of the Pandorica on a nearby screen.)_  
_NARRATOR [OC]: He appears as an iconic image in the artwork of many cultures, and there are several documented accounts of his appearances, and his warnings to the many who attempted to open the box before its time. His last recorded appearance was during the London blitz in 1941. The warehouse where the Pandorica was stored was destroyed by incendiary bombs, but the box itself was found the next morning, a safe distance from the blaze. There are eyewitness accounts from the night of the fire of a figure in Roman dress, carrying the box from the flames. Since then, there have been no sightings of the Lone Centurion, and many have speculated that if he ever existed, he perished in the fires of that night, performing one last act of devotion to the box he had pledged to protect for nearly two thousand years._  
_AMY: Rory. Oh, Rory._  
_DALEK: Exterminate!_  
_AMELIA: What's that?_  
_DALEK: Exterminate!_  
_(The Doctor appears.)_  
_DOCTOR: Trouble. Oh. Ah, two of you. Complicated._  
_DALEK: Exterminate! Weapons systems restoring._  
_DOCTOR: Come along, Ponds._  
_DALEK: Exterminate!_  
_(They run to a Middle Eastern montage where the Doctor takes the fez from a dummy.)_  
_AMY: What are we doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Well, we are running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one._  
_MAN: What's going on?_  
_DOCTOR: Get out of here. Go! Just run!_  
_DALEK: Drop the device!_  
_(The man only has a torch.)_  
_DOCTOR: It's not a weapon. Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste._  
_DALEK: Scans indicate intruder unarmed._  
_(The man drops the torch. It is Rory in a museum guard uniform.)_  
_RORY: Do you think?_  
_(He shoots it with his Auton hand weapon.)_  
_DALEK: Vision impaired! Vision_  
_(The Dalek stops.)_  
_RORY: Amy!_  
_AMY: Rory._  
_(Joyful reunion.)_  
_RORY: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened._  
_AMY: Oh, Shut up._  
_(Amy kisses Rory.)_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on._  
_RORY: I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you._  
_AMY: No, still shut up._  
_DOCTOR: And break. And breathe. Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years._  
_AMELIA: I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it. The light. The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek._  
_(The Dalek's weapon starts to move.)_  
_DOCTOR: Out! Out! Out!_

_[Museum Reception]_

_DOCTOR: So, two thousand years. How did you do?_  
_RORY: Kept out of trouble._  
_DOCTOR: Oh. How?_  
_RORY: Unsuccessfully. The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic._  
_DOCTOR: Ah. Well, no time to lose, then._

_[Stonehenge]_

_DOCTOR: Rory! Listen, she's not dead. Well, she is dead, but it's not the end of the world._

_[Museum Reception]_

_(The Doctor returns and puts the mop through the door handles to the Anomaly exhibition.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oops, sorry._  
_AMELIA: How can he do that? Is he magic?_

_[Stonehenge]_

_DOCTOR: You need to get me out of the Pandorica._  
_RORY: But you're not in the Pandorica._  
_DOCTOR: Yes, I am. Well, I'm not now, but I was back then._

_[Museum Reception]_

_DOCTOR: Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it Rory two thousand years ago._

_[Stonehenge]_

_DOCTOR: And when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket._

_[Museum Reception]_

_DOCTOR: Right then._  
_(The Doctor retrieves his screwdriver.)_  
_DOCTOR: Off we go! No, hang on. How did you know to come here?_  
_(Amelia shows him the leaflet and the post-it note.)_  
_DOCTOR: Ah, my handwriting. Okay._  
_(He grabs a new leaflet and post-it note from the information desk and vanishes. He returns with the drink he took from Amelia earlier.)_  
_DOCTOR: There you go. Drink up._  
_AMY: What is that? How are you doing that?_  
_DOCTOR: Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up._  
_AMY: Where are we going?_  
_DOCTOR: The roof._  
_(A second Doctor appears further up the stairs, sans fez, and falls down them. His clothes are smoking.)_  
_RORY: Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?_  
_AMY: Doctor, is that you?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, it's me. Me from the future._  
_(Future Doctor suddenly wakes up and whispers in the Doctor's ear, then falls back again.)_  
_AMY: Are you? I mean, is he, is he dead?_  
_DOCTOR: What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good._  
_AMY: Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes. Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof._  
_RORY: We can't leave you here dead._  
_DOCTOR: Oh, good. Are you in charge now? So tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?_  
_AMY: Where did she go?_  
_RORY: Amelia?_  
_DOCTOR: There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing._  
_AMY: But how can I still be here if she's not?_  
_DOCTOR: You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!_  
_AMY: He won't die. Time can be rewritten. He'll find a way. I know he will._  
_(Rory covers the dead Doctor with his jacket.)_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Move it! Come on!_  
_DALEK: Restore. Restore!_

_[Roof]_

_AMY; What, it's morning already? How did that happen?_  
_DOCTOR: History is shrinking. Is anybody listening to me? The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left._  
_(The Doctor sonicks a satellite receiver dish off its pole.)_  
_RORY: What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Looking for the Tardis._  
_RORY: But the Tardis exploded._  
_DOCTOR: Okay then, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis._  
_AMY: I don't understand. So, the Tardis blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?_  
_DOCTOR: Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?_  
_(A large burning ball in the sky.)_  
_DOCTOR: Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis._  
_RORY: But that's the sun._  
_DOCTOR: Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now._  
_(The Tardis noise.)_

 

The Doctor stood on the edge of the roof, simultaneously holding up the satellite dish and sonic-ing it.

"That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

"Doctor, there's something else," Rory interjected. "There's a voice."

Amy whispered to him, "I can't hear anyting -"

"Trust the plastic."

" _I'm sorry, sweeties._ "

"Doctor, that's River! How can she be up there?"

" _I'm sorry, sweeties. I'm sorry, sweeties._ "

"Must be like a recording or something," Rory reasoned.

"No, it's not. Of course, the emergency protocols. The Tardis has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is _right_ at the heart of the explosion."

" _I'm sorry, sweeties. I'm sorry, sweeties. I'm sorry, sweeties._ "

 

River connected the cables, turned the lever and ran towards the door. Opening it, she only saw a brick wall. "I'm sorry, sweeties."

River connected the cables, turned the lever and ran towards the door. Opening it, she only saw a brick wall. "I'm sorry, sweeties."

River connected the cables, turned the lever and ran towards the door. The Doctor was leaning against it, looking smug. "Sorry to barge in unannounced."

She looked at her watch. "At this sort of time none the less."

 

_[Rooftop]_

_RIVER: Amy! And the plastic Centurion?_  
_DOCTOR: It's okay, he's on our side._  
_RIVER: Really?_  
_DOCTOR: Yeah._  
_RIVER: I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh. Right then, I have questions, but number one is this. What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?_  
_DOCTOR: It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool._  
_(Amy snatches the fez and throws it into the air, where River shoots it into pieces.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh!_  
_(Then the Dalek rises up above the parapet.)_  
_DALEK: Exterminate!_  
_DOCTOR: Run, run! Move, move. Go!_  
_RORY: Come on!_  
_(The Doctor uses the satellite dish as a shield and they get back into the museum.)_

_[Roof access]_

_RIVER: Doctor, come on._  
_DOCTOR: Shush. It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity._  
_RORY: How do you know?_  
_DOCTOR: Because that's when it's due to kill me._  
_RIVER: Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, shut up. Never mind. How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back._

_[Upper corridor]_

_DOCTOR: How?_  
_RORY: You said the light from the Pandorica_  
_DOCTOR: It's not a light, it's a restoration field. But never mind, call it a light. That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?_  
_AMY: Okay, tell us._  
_DOCTOR: When the Tardis blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except_  
_AMY: Except inside the Pandorica._  
_DOCTOR: The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack._  
_RORY: No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it._  
_DOCTOR: The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it._  
_AMY: Do what?_  
_DOCTOR: Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!_  
_RIVER: Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?_  
_DOCTOR: What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?_  
_RIVER: Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible._  
_DOCTOR: Ah no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need._  
_RIVER: For what?_  
_DOCTOR: Big Bang Two! Now listen._  
_(The Dalek shoots the Doctor.)_  
_DALEK: Exterminate! Exterminate!_  
_RORY: Get back. River, get back now!_  
_DALEK: Exterminate!_  
_(Rory shoots at the Dalek and it powers down again.)_  
_RIVER: Doctor? Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?_  
_(The Doctor activates the vortex manipulator and vanishes.)_  
_RIVER: Where did he go? Damn it, he could be anywhere._  
_AMY: He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago._  
_RIVER: Show me!_  
_AMY: River, he died._  
_DALEK: Systems restoring. You will be exterminated._  
_RORY: We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life._  
_RIVER: You go to the Doctor. I'll be right with you._  
_(Amy and Rory leave.)_  
_DALEK: You will be exterminated!_  
_RIVER: Not yet. Your systems are still restoring, which means your shield density is compromised. One Alpha Mezon burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead._  
_DALEK: Records indicate you will show mercy. You are an associate of the Doctor's._  
_RIVER: I'm River Song. Check your records again._  
_DALEK: Mercy._  
_RIVER: Say it again._  
_DALEK: Mercy!_  
_RIVER: One more time._  
_DALEK: Mercy!_

_[Museum Reception]_

_(The Doctor's body is not there, although Rory's jacket is.)_  
_RORY: How could he have moved? He was dead. Doctor? Doctor!_  
_AMY: But he was dead._  
_RIVER: Who told you that?_  
_AMY: He did._  
_RIVER: Rule one. The Doctor lies._  
_AMY: Where's the Dalek?_  
_RIVER: It died._

_[Anomaly Exhibition]_

_(The Doctor is in the Pandorica.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_RORY: Why did he tell us he was dead?_  
_AMY: We were a diversion. As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here._  
_RIVER: Doctor, can you hear me? What were you doing?_  
_(The light from the Tardis is getting brighter.)_  
_RORY: What's happening?_  
_RIVER: Reality's collapsing. It's speeding up. Look at this room._  
_AMY: Where'd everything go?_  
_RIVER: History's being erased. Time's running out. Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us. Doctor!_  
_DOCTOR: (sotto) Big Bang Two._  
_RORY: The Big Bang. That's the beginning of the universe, right?_  
_AMY: What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings us back? Is that what you mean?_  
_RIVER: Oh._  
_AMY: What?_  
_RIVER: The Tardis is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire._  
_AMY: Then what?_  
_RIVER: Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like he said._  
_AMY: That would work? That would bring everything back?_  
_RIVER: A restoration field powered by an exploding Tardis, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work. He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box._  
_AMY: Why?_  
_RIVER: So he can take it with him. He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion._  
_(A short time later.)_  
_RORY: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: Are you?_  
_RORY: No._  
_AMY: Well, shut up then!_  
_RIVER: Amy, he wants to talk to you._  
_AMY: So, what happens here? Big Bang Two? What happens to us?_  
_RIVER: We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it._  
_AMY: River, tell me he comes back, too._  
_RIVER: The Doctor will be the heart of the explosion._  
_AMY: So?_  
_RIVER: So all the cracks in time will close, but he'll be on the wrong side, trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born. Now, please. He wants to talk to you before he goes._  
_AMY: Not to you?_  
_RIVER: He doesn't really know me yet. Now he never will._  
_(Amy goes to the Pandorica. The Doctor is very weak.)_  
_AMY: Hi._  
_DOCTOR: Amy Pond. The girl who waited all night in your garden. Was it worth it?_  
_AMY: Shut up. Of course it was._  
_DOCTOR: You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said, no reason. I was lying._  
_AMY: It's not important._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the universe. It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house, and just you._  
_AMY: And Aunt Sharon._  
_DOCTOR: Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?_  
_AMY: I lost my Mum and Dad._  
_DOCTOR: How? What happened to them? Where did they go?_  
_AMY: I, I don't_  
_DOCTOR: It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic, it's not your fault._  
_AMY: I don't even remember._  
_DOCTOR: There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?_  
_AMY: How could I just forget?_  
_DOCTOR: Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try._  
_RIVER: Doctor! It's speeding up!_  
_(Amy puts the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in his pocket.)_  
_DOCTOR: There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there._  
_AMY: How can I remember them if they never existed?_  
_DOCTOR: Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back, too. You just remember and they'll be there._  
_AMY: You won't._  
_DOCTOR: You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend any more. Ha! Amy Pond crying over me, eh? Guess what?_  
_AMY: What?_  
_DOCTOR: Gotcha._  
_(The Pandorica closes.)_  
_RIVER: Back! Get back!_  
_(The Pandorica takes off. River gets a text message.)_  
_RIVER: It's from the Doctor._  
_AMY: What does it say?_  
_RIVER: Geronimo._  
_(The Pandorica reaches the Tardis. There is another explosion then everything reverses back to the start of the previous episode.)_

_[Tardis]_

_(The Doctor sits up on the floor of the Tardis.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh! Okay. I escaped, then. Brilliant. I love it when I do that. Legs, yes. Bow tie, cool. I can buy a fez._  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Lyle beach. The beach is the best. Automatic sand._  
_AMY [OC]: Automatic sand? What does that mean?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: It's automated. Totally._  
_DOCTOR: Oh._  
_DOCTOR 2: Cleans up the lolly sticks all by itself._  
_DOCTOR: No, hang on. That's last week when we went to Space Florida. I'm rewinding. My, my time stream unravelling, erasing. Closing._  
_(The crack in the scanner slowly closes and disappears.)_  
_DOCTOR: Hello, universe. Goodbye, Doctor. Amy. Amy._  
_(And back through The Lodger.)_

_[Aickman Street]_

_DOCTOR: Ah, three weeks ago, when she put the card in the window. Amy! I need to tell you something. She can hear me. But if she can hear me_  
_(There is a crack in the road. And back to )_

_[Maze of the Dead]_

_DOCTOR 2: Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer._  
_DOCTOR: Amy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important._  
_AMY: But you don't always tell me the truth._  
_DOCTOR: If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me._  
_AMY: Doctor, the crack in my wall. How can it be here?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know yet but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?_  
_AMY: What did you tell me?_  
_DOCTOR: No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember._  
_AMY: Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?_

_[Amy's home]_

_(And back to the start of the season.)_  
_DOCTOR: Amelia's house. When she was seven. The night she waited._

_[Outside Amy's home]_

_(Little Amelia has fallen asleep outside, lying on her suitcase.)_  
_DOCTOR: The girl who waited. Come here, you._

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_(He puts her to bed.)_  
_DOCTOR: It's funny. I thought if you could hear me, I could hang on somehow. Silly me. Silly old Doctor. When you wake up, you'll have a mum and dad, and you won't even remember me. Well, you'll remember me a little. I'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best. The daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I was always going to take it back. Oh, that box. Amy, you'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient, and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Would have had. Never had. In your dreams, they'll still be there. The Doctor and Amy Pond, and the days that never came. The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly until I'm on the other side. I don't belong here any more. I think I'll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats. Live well. Love Rory. Bye bye, Pond._  
_(The Doctor goes through the crack in the wall. It closes. Amelia wakes up, looks around and goes back to sleep while the stars twinkle in the sky._  
_Grown up Amy is woken by the bright sunlight. She still has her Doctor doll on the chest of drawers and her wedding dress hanging on the open wardrobe door. A woman enters with a tray.)_  
_TABETHA: Morning!_  
_AMY: You're my mum. Oh, my God. You're my mum._  
_TABETHA: Well, of course I'm your mum. What's the matter with you? And this is your breakfast, which your father made, so feel free to tip it out of the window if it's an atrocity. Downstairs, ten minutes? Big day!_  
_(Tabetha leaves.)_  
_AMY: Of course she's my mum. Why is that surprising?_

_[Living room]_

_AUGUSTUS: Ah, Amelia. I fear I may have been using the same joke book as the best man._  
_AMY: You're my tiny little dad!_  
_TABETHA: Amelia, why are you behaving as if you've never seen us before?_  
_AMY: I don't know. It's just._

_[Rory's home]_

_(Rory is cleaning his teeth and talking on the phone at the same time.)_  
_RORY: Hello!_  
_AMY [OC]: Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?_

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_AMY: Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?_

_[Rory's home]_

_RORY: Yep._

_[Amy's bedroom]_

_AMY: Are you just saying yes because you're scared of me?_  
_RORY [OC]: Yep._  
_AMY: I love you._  
_RORY [OC]: Yep._

_[Rory's home]_

_RORY: Er, I mean, I love you too!_

_[Wedding reception]_

_MASTER OF CEREMONIES: Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, the father of the bride, Augustus Pond!_  
_AUGUSTUS: Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects._  
_TABETHA: Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me. Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively._  
_(Amy sees River walking past the windows. She stands up.)_  
_RORY: Amy? You okay?_  
_AMY: Yeah, I'm fine._  
_RORY: Right. Er, you're crying._  
_AMY: So I am. Why am I doing that?_  
_RORY: Because you're happy, probably. Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy._  
_AMY: No, I'm sad. I'm really, really sad._  
_RORY: Great._  
_AMY: Why am I sad? What's that?_  
_RORY: Oh, er, someone left it for you. A woman._  
_AMY: But what is it?_  
_RORY: It's a book._  
_(It's a book with a Tardis design cover.)_  
_AMY: It's blank._  
_RORY: It's a present._  
_AMY: But why?_  
_RORY: Well, you know the old saying. The old wedding thing. Huh? Amy, what? Hey._  
_AUGUSTUS: Ready now. Sorry about that. Last minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year since_  
_(Amy sees one of the guests wearing a bow tie, and another with braces. A tear falls onto the book.)_  
_AUGUSTUS: At the age of six and announced that the new head teacher wasn't real because she looked like a cartoon._  
_AMY: Shut up, Dad!_  
_RORY: Amy?_  
_AUGUSTUS: Amelia?_  
_AMY: Sorry, but shut up, please. There's someone missing. Someone important. Someone so, so important._  
_RORY: Amy, what's wrong?_  
_AMY: Sorry. Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid, I had an imaginary friend._  
_TABETHA: Oh no, not this again._  
_AMY: The raggedy Doctor. My raggedy Doctor. But he wasn't imaginary, he was real._  
_TABETHA: The psychiatrists we sent her to._  
_AMY: I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!_  
_(The glasses start rattling, very gently.)_  
_AMY: I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would. That's why you told me the story the brand new, ancient blue box._  
_(A strong wind blows the balloons around.)_  
_AMY: Oh, clever. Very clever._  
_RORY: Amy, what is it?_  
_AMY: Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue._  
_(The Tardis materialises in the middle of the room.)_  
_RORY: It's the Doctor. How did we forget the Doctor? I was plastic. He was the stripper at my stag. Long story._  
_(Amy knocks on the Tardis door.)_  
_AMY: Okay, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?_  
_(The Doctor appears in top hat and tails.)_  
_DOCTOR: Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing. Hello, everyone. I'm Amy's imaginary friend. But I came anyway._  
_AMY: You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride._  
_DOCTOR: Amelia, from now on I shall be leaving the kissing duties to the brand new Mister Pond._  
_RORY: No, I'm not Mister Pond. That's not how it works._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, it is._  
_RORY: Yeah, it is._  
_DOCTOR: Right then, everyone. I'll move my box. You're going to need the space. I only came for the dancing._  
_(Later, in the disco phase of the party, the Doctor is moving to the rhythm of Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen.)_  
_AMY: You're terrible. That is embarrassing!_  
_DOCTOR: That's it. That's good. Keep it loose._  
_(The little children love him. And later, when the tempo is slowed for the smooch tunes like You Give Me Something" by James Morrison, the Doctor watches Amy and Rory.)_  
_DOCTOR: Two thousand years. The boy who waited. Good on you, mate._

 

"Did you dance?" River called from behind him. "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?"

He turned around. "You tell me."

"Spoilers."

He handed her the diary. "The writing's all back, but I didn't peek."

"Thank you."

Then the Vortex Manipulator. As she strapped it onto her wrist, he picked up their conversation again, "Are you married, River?"

"Yes."

He watched her for a moment, then asked, "To whom?"

"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

She didn't answer, just set coordinates.

"River. Who are you?" She looked up. He smiled at her with such fondness it broke her heart.

"You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

She dematerialized.


	4. The Impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've only rewritten parts of the episodes.  
> To provide context I use the transcripts from www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho  
> Rights go to the owner of this fantastic site.

**The Impossible Astronaut**

 

_[Living room]_

_AMY: It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention. Are you watching this again?_  
_(A Laurel and Hardy film, most likely the Flying Deuces.)_  
_RORY: Yeah. I've explained the jokes._  
_(The doorbell rings and Amy answers it. The postman hands over some letters.)_  
_RORY: So what are you saying? Do you really think he's back there, trying to wave to us, out of history books?_  
_(Completely missing the Doctor in a fez waving to the viewer before joining in Stan and Ollie's dance.)_  
_AMY: Hey, it's the sort of thing he'd do. Thanks._  
_RORY: Yeah, but why?_  
_AMY: Well, he said he'd be in touch._  
_RORY: Two months ago._  
_AMY: Two months is nothing. He's up to something. I know he is. I know him._  
_(She opens an envelope with the number 3 on the back.)_  
_RORY: What is it? Amy?_  
_AMY: A date, a time, a map reference. I think it's an invitation._  
_RORY: From who?_  
_AMY: It's not signed. Look, Tardis blue._

_[Stormcage]_

_(Prisoner River Song also gets mail.)_  
_GUARD: You'd better get down here, sir. She's doing it again. Doctor Song, sir. She's packing. Says she's going to some planet called America._

_[Highway]_

_(The San Juan School District bus lets Rory and Amy off, with their backpacks.)_  
_AMY: Thanks!_  
_DRIVER [OC]: You're very welcome._  
_AMY: This is it, yeah? The right place?_  
_RORY: Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this it._  
_DOCTOR: Howdy._  
_(They turn to see the Doctor lying on the hood of a big American car.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_DOCTOR: Ha, ha! It's the Pond._  
_AMY: Hey!_  
_(Joyous reunion.)_  
_DOCTOR: Hello, Pond. Come here._  
_AMY: So, someone's been a busy boy then, eh?_  
_DOCTOR: Did you see me?_  
_AMY: Of course._  
_DOCTOR: Stalker._  
_AMY: Flirt._  
_RORY: Husband._  
_DOCTOR: Rory the Roman! Ooo, come here._  
_RORY: Hey, nice hat._  
_DOCTOR: I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool._  
_(Then someone shoots it off him.)_  
_RIVER: Hello, sweetie._

_[Diner]_

_(Comparing diaries.)_  
_RIVER: Right then, where are we? Have we done Easter Island yet?_  
_DOCTOR: Er, yes! I've got Easter Island._  
_RIVER: They worshipped you there. Have you seen the statues?_  
_DOCTOR: Jim the fish._  
_RIVER: Oh! Jim the fish. How is he?_  
_DOCTOR: Still building his dam._  
_RORY: Sorry, what are you two doing?_  
_AMY: They're both time travellers, so they never meet in the right order. They're syncing their diaries. So, what's happening, then? Because you've been up to something._  
_DOCTOR: I've been running, faster than I've ever run. And I've been running my whole life. Now, it's time for me to stop. And tonight, I'm going to need you all with me._  
_AMY: Okay. We're here. What's up?_  
_DOCTOR: A picnic. And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand new._  
_AMY: Where?_  
_DOCTOR: Space, 1969._

_[Lakeside]_

_(The picnic.)_  
_DOCTOR: Salud!_  
_ALL: Salud._  
_RORY: So, when are going to 1969?_  
_AMY: And since when do you drink wine?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm eleven hundred and three. I must've drunk it sometime._  
_(He takes a swig from the bottle and spits it out.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, why it's horrid. I thought it would taste more like the gums._  
_AMY: Eleven hundred and three? You were nine hundred and eight the last time we saw you._  
_DOCTOR: And you've put on a couple of pounds. I wasn't going to mention it._  
_(A strange figure is silhouetted on the skyline.)_  
_AMY: Who's that?_  
_RORY: Hmm? Who's who?_  
_AMY: Sorry, what?_  
_RORY: What did you see? You said you saw something._  
_AMY: No, I didn't._  
_DOCTOR: Ah, the moon. Look at it. Of course, you lot did a lot more than look, didn't you? Big, silvery thing in the sky. You couldn't resist it. Quite right._  
_RORY: The moon landing was in 69. Is that where we're going?_  
_DOCTOR: No. A lot more happens in 69 than anyone remembers. Human beings. I thought I'd never get done saving you._  
_(A truck pulls up nearby and W Morgan Sheppard gets out. The Doctor waves to him.)_  
_AMY: Who's he?_  
_RIVER: Oh, my God._  
_(A figure in a NASA spacesuit is standing up to its knees in the lake.)_  
_DOCTOR: You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere. Clear?_  
_(The Doctor goes to meet the figure, who has stepped out of the water.)_  
_RORY: That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in a lake._  
_AMY: Yeah._  
_DOCTOR: Hello. It's okay. I know it's you._  
_(The astronaut raises its gold plated visor.)_  
_DOCTOR: Well then._  
_(They watch as the Doctor says something, then bows his head.)_  
_AMY: What's he doing?_  
_(The astronaut shoots the Doctor.)_  
_AMY: Doctor!_  
_RIVER: Amy, stay back!_  
_(And again.)_  
_RIVER: The Doctor said stay back! You have to stay back!_  
_AMY: No! No! Doctor!_  
_(Regeneration energy starts to flow from the Doctor's hands.)_  
_DOCTOR: I'm sorry._  
_(The astronaut shoots again just as the regeneration starts properly.)_  
_RIVER: No! Doctor!_  
_AMY: Doctor, please!_  
_(They run to the Doctor. River scans him with her tricorder.)_  
_AMY: River. River! River? No._  
_(River empties her six-shooter at the retreating astronaut.)_  
_RIVER: Of course not._  
_AMY: River, he can't be dead. This isn't possible._  
_RIVER: Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle. His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one._  
_AMY: Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something._  
_(The old man approaches, with a petrol can.)_  
_DELAWARE: I believe I can save you some time. That most certainly is the Doctor. And he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this._  
_RORY: Gasoline?_  
_RIVER: A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell. We can't leave him here. Or anywhere._  
_AMY: Wake up. Come on, wake up, you stupid, bloody idiot. What do we do, Rory?_  
_RIVER: We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do. As we're told._  
_RORY: There's a boat. If we're going to do this, let's do it properly._  
_(So, as the sun sets, the Doctor gets a Viking funeral.)_  
_RIVER: Who are you? Why did you come?_  
_DELAWARE: The same reason as you._  
_(He holds out his blue invitation.)_  
_DELAWARE: Doctor Song, Amy, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware the third. I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me._  
_(Delaware leaves.)_  
_RIVER: Four._  
_RORY: Sorry, what?_  
_RIVER: The Doctor numbered the envelopes._

_[Diner]_

_RIVER: You got 3, I was 2, Mister Delaware was 4._  
_RORY: So?_  
_RIVER: So, where's 1?_  
_RORY: What, you think he invited someone else?_  
_RIVER: Well, he must have. He planned all of this, to the last detail._  
_AMY: Will you two shut up? It doesn't matter._  
_RIVER: He was up to something._  
_AMY: He's dead._  
_RIVER: Space, 1969. What did he mean?_  
_AMY: You're still talking, but it doesn't matter._  
_RORY: Hey, it mattered to him._  
_RIVER: So it matters to us._  
_AMY: He's dead._  
_RIVER: But he still needs us. I know. Amy, I know. But right now we have to focus._  
_RORY: Look._  
_(Another blue envelope on a table near the back.)_  
_RORY: Excuse me, who was sitting over there?_  
_BUSBOY: Some guy._  
_RIVER: The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?_  
_RORY: Er, your friends. People you trust._

 

"Number 1. Who did The Doctor trust the most?" River asked and, speak of the Devil, the door opened to reveal the Timelord.

"This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold."

The Doctor looked a bit confused, but unbothered. "Or hello, as people used to say."

"Doctor?" Amy asked, shocked to see him.

"I just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz."

"You're okay. How can you be okay?"

"Hey, of course I'm okay. I'm always okay. I'm the King of Okay. Oh, that's a rubbish title. Forget that title. Rory the Roman! That's a good title. Hello, Rory." He went to hug said centurion. "And Doctor River Song. If you're here it must mean trouble. Am I right?"

River slapped the Doctor in a manner that reminded him of one angry Jackie Tyler.

"Okay. I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

"Yes, it is."

"Good. Looking forward to it"

 

_RORY: I don't understand. How can you be here?_  
_DOCTOR: I was invited. Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence._  
_AMY: River, what's going on?_  
_RIVER: Amy, ask him what age he is._  
_DOCTOR: That's a bit personal._  
_RIVER: Tell her. Tell her what age you are._  
_DOCTOR: Nine hundred and nine._  
_RIVER: Yeah, but you said you were_  
_RIVER: So where does that leave us, huh? Jim the fish? Have we done Jim the fish yet?_  
_DOCTOR: Who's Jim the fish?_  
_AMY: I don't understand._  
_RORY: Yeah, you do._  
_DOCTOR: I don't! What are we all doing here?_  
_RIVER: We've been recruited. Something to do with space 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the third._  
_DOCTOR: Recruited by who?_  
_RIVER: Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe._  
_DOCTOR: And who's that?_  
_RIVER: Spoilers._

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: 1969, that's an easy one! Funny, how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware the third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose. Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?_  
_RORY: I'll find out._

_[Tardis lower level]_

_AMY: Explain it again._  
_RIVER: The Doctor we saw on the beach is a future version, two hundred years older than the one up there._  
_AMY: But all that's still going to happen. He's still going to die._  
_RIVER: We're all going to do that, Amy._  
_RORY: We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves. So, the Doctor, in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to, to what, exactly? Avenge him?_  
_RIVER: Uh huh. Avenging's not his style._  
_AMY: Save him._  
_RORY: Yeah, that's not really his style either._  
_AMY: We have to tell him._  
_RIVER: We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe._  
_AMY: Yes, but he's done it before._  
_RORY: And in fairness, the universe did blow up._  
_AMY: But he'd want to know._  
_RIVER: Would he? Would anyone?_  
_DOCTOR: I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all?_  
_RIVER: Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?_  
_AMY: River, we can't just let him die. We have to stop it. How can you be okay with this?_  
_RIVER: The Doctor's death doesn't frighten me. Nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me._

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: Time isn't a straight line. It's all bumpy wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The Tardis can't resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that's space in the sixties, and Canton Everett Delaware the third, and this is where she's pointing._  
_AMY: Washington D.C., April the eighth, 1969. So why haven't we landed?_  
_DOCTOR: Because that's not where we're going._  
_RORY: Oh. Where are we going?_  
_DOCTOR: Home. Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. And you, Doctor Song, back to prison. And me? I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes. One or the other. What? A mysterious summons. You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know. I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that._  
_RIVER: You're going to have to trust us this time._  
_DOCTOR: Trust you? Sure. But, first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing. Who are you? You're someone from my future. Getting that. But who? Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill, hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously._  
_AMY: Trust me._  
_DOCTOR: Okay._  
_AMY: You have to do this, and you can't ask why._  
_DOCTOR: Are you being threatened? Is someone making you say that?_  
_AMY: No._  
_DOCTOR: You're lying._  
_AMY: I'm not lying._  
_DOCTOR: Swear to me. Swear to me on something that matters._  
_AMY: Fish fingers and custard._  
_DOCTOR: My life in your hands, Amelia Pond._  
_RIVER: Thank you._  
_DOCTOR: So! Canton Everett Delaware the third. Who's he?_

_[Bar]_

_(W Morgan Sheppard's son, Mark.)_  
_CANTON: Who wants to know?_  
_CARL: Your boss._  
_CANTON: I don't have a boss anymore._  
_CARL: Maybe you want to tell that to the President of the United States._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Ex FBI. Got kicked out._  
_DOCTOR: Why?_

_[Car]_

_NIXON [on telephone]: I understand that you have a problem with authority._  
_CANTON: Thank you._  
_NIXON [on telephone]: That's not a compliment, son._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Six weeks after he left the Bureau, the President contacted him for a private meeting._  
_DOCTOR: Yeah, 1969. Who's President?_

_[Oval office]_

_NIXON: This is a personal matter. I need someone on the outside, someone with FBI training_

_[Car]_

_NIXON [on telephone]: But who's not in contact with them._  
_CANTON: I'm flattered._

_[Oval office]_

_NIXON: You were my second choice for this, Mister Delaware._  
_CANTON [OC]: That's okay._

_[Car]_

_CANTON: You were my second choice for President, Mister Nixon._

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Richard Milhous Nixon. Vietnam, Watergate. There's some good stuff, too._  
_DOCTOR: Not enough._  
_RIVER: Hippie!_  
_DOCTOR: Archaeologist._

_[Oval office]_

_NIXON: Every day, wherever I am, I get a phone call._  
_CANTON: People can't just call you, Mister President._  
_NIXON: It's a direct call every time. Every day for the last two weeks, usually late at night._  
_CANTON: Man or woman?_  
_NIXON: Neither. Listen._  
_(Well, he did like recording everything.)_

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: Okay, since I don't know what I'm getting into this time, for once I'm being discreet. I'm putting the engines on silent._  
_(He pulls a lever and there is a wail. River throws a different switch and it goes quiet.)_  
_DOCTOR: Did you do something?_  
_RIVER: No, just watching._  
_DOCTOR: Putting the outer shield on invisible. I haven't done this in a while. Big drain on the power._  
_RORY: You can turn the Tardis invisible?_  
_DOCTOR: Ha!_  
_RIVER: Very nearly._  
_(And she moves another lever.)_  
_DOCTOR: Er, did you touch something?_  
_RIVER: Just admiring your skills, sweetie._  
_DOCTOR: Good. You might learn something. Okay. Now I can't check the scanner. It doesn't work when we're cloaked. Just give us a mo. Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa. You lot, wait a moment. We're in the middle of the most powerful city in the most powerful country on Earth. Let's take it slow._  
_(The Doctor steps out of the Tardis.)_

_[Oval office]_

_(As Nixon and Canton are listening to the recording.)_  
_NIXON [OC]: Hello? Who is this? This is President Nixon. Who's calling? Is this you again?_  
_GIRL [OC]: Mister President?_  
_CANTON: A child._  
_NIXON [OC]: This is the President, yes._  
_GIRL [OC]: I'm scared, Mister President. I'm scared of the spaceman._  
_CANTON: A little girl?_  
_NIXON: Boy._  
_CANTON: How can you be sure?_  
_NIXON [OC]: What spaceman? Where are you phoning from? Where are you right now? Who are you?_  
_(The Doctor quietly gets out a notebook and starts writing.)_  
_GIRL [OC]: Jefferson Adams Hamilton._  
_NIXON [OC]: Jefferson, listen to me._  
_(The child rings off.)_  
_CANTON: Surely this is something the Bureau could handle, sir._  
_NIXON: These calls happen wherever I am. How do I know the Bureau isn't involved? I can't trust anyone_  
_(Nixon turns around and sees the Doctor. Canton stands and turns, too. The Doctor keeps writing.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh. Hello. Bad moment. Oh look, this is the Oval Office. I was looking for the er, oblong room. I'll just be off, then, shall I?_  
_(And walks smack into the cloaked Tardis, causing a big jolt inside.)_

_[Tardis]_

_RIVER: Every time._

_[Oval office]_

_DOCTOR: Don't worry! It always does that when its cloaked._  
_(Canton wrestles the Doctor to the floor.)_  
_DOCTOR: Ah, no. Stop that._

_[Tardis]_

_RORY: He said the scanner wouldn't work._  
_RIVER: I know. Bless._

_[Oval office]_

_(The Secret Service run in.)_  
_CARL: Lockdown! Lockdown!_

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR [on scanner]: Stop that! Argh! Oh!_

_[Oval office]_

_DOCTOR: River, have you got my scanner_

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR [on scanner]: Working yet?_  
_RIVER: Oh, I hate him._

_[Oval office]_

_DOCTOR: No, you don't!_  
_CARL: Get the President out of here. Sir, you have to go with them, now._  
_DOCTOR: River, make her blue again!_  
_(The Tardis shimmers into the visible spectrum.)_  
_NIXON: What the hell is that?_  
_(While they were distracted, the Doctor has slipped out of their grasp and into Nixon's chair.)_  
_DOCTOR: Mister President, that child just told you everything you need to know, but you weren't listening. Never mind, though, because the answer's yes. I'll take the case. Fellows, the guns, really? I just walked into the highest security office in the United States and parked a big blue box on the rug. Do you think you can just shoot me?_  
_RIVER: They're Americans!_  
_DOCTOR: Don't shoot. Definitely no shooting._  
_RORY: Nobody shoot us either. Very much not in need of getting shot. Look, we've got our hands up._  
_NIXON: Who the hell are you?_  
_CANTON: Sir, you need to stay back._  
_NIXON: But who are they and what is that box?_  
_DOCTOR: It's a police box. Can't you read?_

 

"I'm your new undercover agent on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Legs, the Nose, and Barbarella."

"Oh, I hate you."

"No, you don't."

 

_NIXON: Who are you?_  
_DOCTOR: Nah, boring question. Who's phoning you? That's interesting. Because Canton Three is right. That was definitely a girl's voice, which means there's only one place in America she can be phoning from._  
_CANTON: Where?_  
_CARL: Do not engage with the intruder, Mister Delaware._  
_You heard everything I heard. It's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain. On the other hand, lay a finger on me or my friends, and you'll never, ever know._  
_CANTON: How did you get it in here? I mean, you didn't carry it in._  
_DOCTOR: Clever, eh?_  
_CANTON: Love it._  
_CARL: Do not compliment the intruder._  
_CANTON: Five minutes?_  
_DOCTOR: Five._  
_CARL: Mister President, that man is a clear and present danger to_  
_CANTON: Mister President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and three of his friends, and that's the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. I say we give him five minutes. See if he delivers._  
_DOCTOR: Thanks, Canton._  
_CANTON: If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself._  
_DOCTOR: Not so thanks._  
_CARL: Sir, I cannot recommend_  
_NIXON: Shut up, Peterson! All right, five minutes._  
_DOCTOR: I'm going to need a SWAT team, ready to mobilise. Street level maps covering all of Florida. A pot of coffee, twelve Jammie Dodgers and a fez._  
_CANTON: Get him his maps._  
_(Later.)_  
_CANTON: Why Florida?_  
_DOCTOR: There's where NASA is. She mentioned a spaceman. NASA's where the spacemen live. Also, there's another lead I'm following._  
_AMY: A spaceman, like the one we saw at the lake._  
_RIVER: Maybe. Probably._  
_(Amy sees a figure in a suit at the open door. It has a large head with sunken eyes and no mouth, and very long fingers. She recalls the sighting at the lake.)_  
_AMY [memory]: Who's that?_  
_AMY: I remember._  
_RORY: Amy? What do you remember?_  
_(The figure is gone.)_  
_AMY: I don't know. I just_  
_RORY: Amy, what's wrong?_  
_RIVER: Amy?_  
_DOCTOR: Are you all right?_  
_AMY: Yeah. No, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little sick. Excuse me, is there a toilet or something?_  
_CARL: Sorry, ma'am, while this procedure's ongoing, you must remain within the Oval office._  
_CANTON: Shut up and take her to the restroom._  
_PHIL: This way, ma'am._  
_AMY: Thanks._  
_(Amy leaves. Carl stops Rory from following.)_  
_CANTON: Your five minutes are up._  
_DOCTOR; Yeah, and where's my fez?_

_[Outside the Rest room]_

_AMY: Actually, I can usually manage this alone._  
_(Phil reluctantly stands guard.)_

_[Rest room]_

_(Amy enters to see the weird alien there.)_  
_AMY: Argh! I saw you before, at the lake. And here. But then I forgot. How did I forget? What are you?_  
_(A woman comes out of a stall and goes to wash her hands.)_  
_AMY: Get back. Stay back from it._  
_(The woman turns to see the alien.)_  
_JOY: Eek! Oh, my God. What is that? Is that a mask? Is that a Star Trek thing? Ben, is that you?_  
_AMY: Get back from it now!_  
_(Joy turns around.)_  
_JOY: Back from what, honey?_  
_AMY: That._  
_(Joy turns back again.)_  
_JOY: Eek! Oh, my God! Look at that. Is that a Star Trek mask? Ben, that's got to be you. Hang on, did I just say all that?_  
_AMY: No. Please, you've got to stay back._  
_JOY: Back, honey? Back from what?_  
_(The lights flicker.)_  
_JOY: Oh, those lights. They never fix them._  
_AMY: Look behind you._  
_JOY: Honey, there is nothing. Argh!_  
_(The alien uses the electricity from the lights to give Joy a prolonged zap, until she explodes in a shower of ashes.)_  
_AMY: You didn't have to kill her. She couldn't even remember you. How does that work? We can only remember you while we're seeing you, is that it?_  
_(Amy takes a photograph with her mobile phone.)_  
_AMY: Why did you have to kill her?_  
_SILENCE: Joy. Her name was Joy. Your name is Amelia. You will tell the Doctor._  
_AMY: Tell him what?_  
_SILENCE: What he must know and what he must never know._  
_AMY: How do you know about that?_  
_SILENCE: Tell him._

_[Outside the Rest room]_

_(Amy runs out.)_  
_PHIL: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: I'm fine. Much better, thanks._  
_PHIL: What's that?_  
_AMY: It's my phone._  
_PHIL: Your phone?_  
_AMY: I have to tell the Doctor._  
_PHIL: Tell him what, ma'am?_  
_AMY: Sorry, I don't know why I said that._  
_PHIL: This way, ma'am._

_[Oval office]_

_(The telephone rings.)_  
_CANTON: The kid?_  
_NIXON: Should I answer it?_  
_DOCTOR: Here! The only place in the United States that call could be coming from. See? Obvious, when you think about it._  
_(Amy and Phil return.)_  
_CANTON: You, sir, are a genius._  
_DOCTOR: It's a hobby._  
_CANTON: Mister President, answer the phone._  
_NIXON: Hello. This is President Nixon._  
_GIRL [on telephone}: It's here! The spaceman's here! It's going to get me! It's going to eat me!_  
_DOCTOR: There's no time for a SWAT team. Let's go. Mister President, tell her help's on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you._  
_CANTON: What the hell are you doing?_  
_(Canton runs into the Tardis behind Rory, Amy, River and the Doctor. It dematerialises.)_  
_GIRL [on telephone]: Mister President, please help. Please help me!_  
_NIXON: Jefferson, it's all right. I'm sending my best people._

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: Jefferson isn't a girl's name. It's not her name either. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton. River._  
_RIVER: Surnames of three of America's founding fathers._  
_DOCTOR: Lovely fellows. Two of them fancied me._  
_RORY: Are you okay? Coping?_  
_DOCTOR: You see, the President asked the child two questions. Where are you and who are you? She was answering where._  
_CANTON: It's bigger on the inside._  
_RORY: Yeah, you get used to it._  
_DOCTOR: Now, where would you find three big, historical names in a row like that?_  
_AMY: Where?_  
_DOCTOR: Here. Come on._  
_CANTON: It's er_  
_DOCTOR: Are you taking care of this?_  
_RORY: Why is it always my turn?_  
_AMY: Because you're the newest._

_[Warehouse office]_

_(A dingy, cluttered place.)_  
_AMY: Where are we?_  
_DOCTOR: About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. It's 1969, the year of the moon. Interesting, don't you think?_  
_AMY: But why would a little girl be here?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know. Lost me a bit. The President asked the girl where she was, and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out of the window._  
_(Where the street sign points to Hamilton Av, Jefferson St and Adams St.)_

 

"Streets," Amy realized. "Of course, street names."

"The only place in Florida, probably all of America, with those three street names on the same junction." The Doctor looked at both women. "And Amy, Doctor Song, you've got that face on again."

"What face?" River asked.

"The oh-wow-he's-a-genius face."

Amy snorted. "Sure we do, bowtie."

 

_(Rory finally gets Canton out of the Tardis.)_  
_CANTON: We've moved. How, how can we have moved?_  
_DOCTOR: You haven't even got to space travel yet?_  
_RORY: I was going to cover it with time travel._  
_CANTON: Time travel._  
_DOCTOR: Brave heart, Canton. Come on._  
_CANTON: So we're in a box that's bigger on the inside, and it travels through time and space._  
_RORY: Yeah, basically._  
_CANTON: How long have Scotland Yard had this?_

_[Warehouse]_

_RIVER: It's a warehouse of some kind. Disused._  
_DOCTOR: You realise this is almost certainly a trap, of course?_  
_RIVER: I noticed the phone, yes._  
_AMY: What about it?_  
_RIVER: It was cut off. So how did the child phone from here?_  
_AMY: Okay, but why would anyone want to trap us?_  
_DOCTOR: Let's see if anyone tries to kill us and work backwards._  
_(The astronaut watches from the shadows.)_  
_RIVER: Now, why would a little girl be here?_  
_DOCTOR: I don't know. Let's find her and ask her._  
_(They come across some technology.)_  
_RIVER: It's nonterrestrial. Definitely alien. Probably not even from this time zone._  
_DOCTOR: Which is odd, because look at this!_  
_(A crate of spacesuits.)_  
_RIVER: It's earth tech. It's contemporary._  
_DOCTOR: It's very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program._  
_RIVER: Stolen?_  
_AMY: What, by aliens?_  
_DOCTOR: Apparently._  
_AMY: But why? I mean, if you can make it all the way to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?_  
_DOCTOR: Maybe because it's cooler? Look how cool this stuff is._  
_AMY: Cool aliens?_  
_DOCTOR: Well, what would you call me?_  
_AMY: An alien._  
_DOCTOR: Oi!_  
_RORY: I, er, I think he's okay now._  
_DOCTOR: Ah! Back with us, Canton._  
_CANTON: I like your wheels._  
_DOCTOR: That's my boy. So, come on. Little girl. Let's find her._  
_(Amy and River examine the alien tech, which has a lot of gunk and slime associated with it.)_  
_AMY: River._  
_RIVER: I know what you're thinking._  
_AMY: No, you don't._  
_RIVER: You're thinking if we can find the spaceman in 1969 and neutralise it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor._  
_AMY: Okay, lucky guess._  
_RIVER: It's only because I was thinking it too._  
_AMY: So let's do it._  
_RIVER: It doesn't work like that. We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox._  
_AMY: Time can be rewritten._  
_RIVER: Not all of it._  
_AMY: Says who?_  
_RIVER: Who do you think? What's this?_  
_(A manhole cover.)_  
_AMY: We can still save him._  
_RIVER: Doctor? Look at this._  
_DOCTOR: So where does that go?_  
_RIVER: There's a network of tunnels running under here._  
_DOCTOR: Life signs?_  
_RIVER: No, nothing that's showing up._  
_DOCTOR: Those are the worst kind._  
_(River prepares to go down.)_  
_DOCTOR: Be careful._  
_RIVER: Careful? I tried that once. Ever so dull._  
_DOCTOR: Shout if you get in trouble._  
_RIVER: Don't worry, I'm quite the screamer. Now there's a spoiler for you._  
_CANTON: Tell me what's going on here._  
_DOCTOR: Er, nothing. She's just a friend._  
_RORY: I think he's talking about the possible alien incursion._  
_DOCTOR: Okay._  
_(River discovers power lines, and more aliens.)_  
_CANTON: So, I was in a bar having a drink. Tell me, honestly, Am I still there?_  
_AMY: Afraid not._  
_(River returns in a hurry.)_  
_RIVER: All clear. Just tunnels. Nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes. I want to take another look around._  
_DOCTOR: Stupidly dangerous!_  
_RIVER: Yeah, I like it too. Amy, look after him._  
_(River goes back down.)_  
_DOCTOR: Rory, would you mind going with her?_  
_RORY: Yeah, a bit._  
_DOCTOR: Then I'd appreciate it all the more._  
_RORY: Hang on, River. I'm coming too._

_[Tunnel]_

_RORY: Are you okay?_  
_RIVER: Ah. Yes, yes. I just felt a bit sick. It's the prison food, probably. Okay, this way? What do you think?_  
_RORY: I keep thinking I hear things._  
_RIVER: That's interesting. These tunnels are old. Really old. How can they be really old and nobody notice them?_  
_(They come across a metal door.)_  
_RORY: It's a maintenance hatch._  
_RIVER: It's locked. Oh, why do people always lock things?_  
_RORY: What's through there?_  
_RIVER: I've no idea._  
_RORY: Something bad?_  
_RIVER: Almost definitely._  
_RORY: You're going to open it, aren't you?_  
_RIVER: Well, it's locked. How's a girl supposed to resist?_  
_RORY: Is this sensible?_  
_RIVER: God, I hope not._  
_RORY: Oh, you and the Doctor. I can kind of picture it._  
_RIVER: Keep a look out._  
_RORY: What did you mean? What you said to Amy. There's a worst day coming for you._

 

"When I first met the Doctor, a long, long time ago, he knew all about me. Think about that. An impressionable young girl and, suddenly this man just drops out of the sky and he's clever and mad and wonderful, knows every last thing about her and still promises her a family."

Rory warched her silently.

"The trouble is, it's all back to front. My past is his future. We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less. I live for the days when I see him, but I know that every time I do, he'll be one step further away. You'll all be. And the day is coming when I'll look into that man's eyes, that Doctor, and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me."

The door unlocked.

 

 

**Day of the Moon**

 

_[Tardis]_

_CANTON: She dove off a rooftop._  
_DOCTOR: Don't worry. She does that. Amy, Rory, open all the doors to the swimming pool._  
_(River turns into a dive, and plummets through the Tardis' open door where it is parked on the side of the skyscraper. There is a big Splosh!)_  
_DOCTOR: So, we know they're everywhere. Not just a landing party, an occupying force, and they 'have been here a very, very long time. But nobody knows that, because no one can remember them._  
_CANTON: So what are they up to?_  
_DOCTOR: No idea. But the good news is, we've got a secret weapon._

_[Kennedy Space Centre]_

_(A Saturn V rocket is on the launch pad nearby.)_  
_RIVER: Apollo 11's your secret weapon?_  
_DOCTOR: No, no. It's not Apollo 11. That would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot._

_[Car]_

_(It is a dark and stormy night when a car drives up to the Graystark Hall Orphanage.)_  
_RADIO [OC]: In just a few days, mankind will set foot on the Moon for the first time. Today, the President reaffirmed America's commitment_  
_CANTON: Ready. Check._  
_(Amy looks at her palm. No tally marks.)_  
_AMY: Clear._  
_(Canton looks at his palm.)_  
_CANTON: Clear._

_[Tardis]_

_(Earlier, the Doctor has injected something into Canton's palm.)_  
_CANTON: Ow!_  
_DOCTOR: Ha. So, three months. What have we found out?_  
_RORY: Well, they are everywhere. Every state in America. Ahh._  
_(Rory got his injection.)_  
_DOCTOR: Not just America, the entire world._  
_RIVER: There's a greater concentration here, though._  
_AMY: Ow!_  
_DOCTOR: Are you okay?_  
_AMY: All better._  
_DOCTOR: Better?_  
_AMY: Turns out I was wrong. I'm not pregnant._  
_RORY: What's up?_  
_AMY: Nothing. Really, nothing. Seriously._  
_CANTON: So you've seen them, but you don't remember them._  
_RIVER: You've seen them, too. That night at the warehouse, remember? While you were pretending to hunt us down, we saw hundreds of those things. We still don't know what they look like._  
_RORY: It's like they edit themselves out of your memory as soon as you look away. The exact second you're not looking at them, you can't remember anything._  
_AMY: Sometimes you feel a bit sick, though, but not always._  
_CANTON: So that's why you marked your skin._  
_AMY: Only way we'd know if we'd had an encounter._  
_CANTON: How long have they been here?_  
_AMY: That's what we've spent the last three months trying to find out._  
_RORY: Not easy, if you can't remember anything you discover._  
_CANTON: How long do you think?_  
_DOCTOR: As long as there's been something in the corner of your eye, or creaking in your house, or breathing under your bed, or voices through a wall. They've been running your lives for a very long time now, so keep this straight in your head. We are not fighting an alien invasion, we're leading a revolution. And today, the battle begins._  
_CANTON: How?_  
_DOCTOR: Like this._  
_(The Doctor quickly injects River.)_  
_RIVER: Ow!_  
_DOCTOR: (laughs) Nanorecorder. Fuses with the cartilage in your hand. (injects himself) Ow. And it tunes itself directly to the speech centres in your brain. It'll pick up your voice, no matter what. Telepathic connection. So, the moment you see one of the creatures, you activate it, and describe aloud exactly what you're seeing._  
_DOCTOR: [OC]: And describe aloud exactly what you're seeing._  
_DOCTOR: Because the moment you break contact, you're going to forget it happened. The light will flash if you've left yourself a message. You keep checking your hand if you've had an encounter. That's the first you'll know about it._  
_CANTON: Why didn't you tell me this before we started?_  
_DOCTOR: I did, but even information about these creatures erases itself over time. I couldn't refresh it because I couldn't talk to you._  
_(Canton looks away then turns back and adjusts the Doctor's bow tie.)_  
_CANTON: What? What are you staring at?_  
_RIVER: Look at your hand._  
_(A little dot is flashing.)_  
_CANTON: Why is it doing that?_  
_DOCTOR: What does it mean if the light's flashing? What did I just tell you?_  
_CANTON: I haven't_  
_DOCTOR: Play it._  
_CANTON [OC]: My God, how did it get in here?_  
_DOCTOR [OC]: Keep eye contact with the creature and, when I say, turn back, and when you do, straighten my bow tie._  
_CANTON [OC]: What? What are you staring at?_  
_RIVER [OC]: Look at your hand._  
_(One of the aliens is standing there.)_  
_DOCTOR: It's a hologram, extrapolated from the photo on Amy's phone. Take a good, long look._  
_(The Doctor turns off the image.)_  
_DOCTOR: You just saw an image of one of the creatures we're fighting. Describe it to me._  
_CANTON: I can't._  
_DOCTOR: No. Neither can I. You straightened my bow tie because I planted the idea in your head while you were looking at the creature._  
_AMY: So they could do that to people. You could be doing stuff and not really knowing why you're doing it._  
_RORY: Like posthypnotic suggestion._  
_AMY: Ruling the world with posthypnotic suggestion?_  
_DOCTOR: Now then, a little girl in a spacesuit. They got the suit from NASA, but where did they get the girl?_  
_CANTON: It could be anywhere._  
_DOCTOR: Except they'd probably stay close to that warehouse, because why bother doing anything else? And they'd take her from somewhere that would cause the least amount of attention. But you'll have to find her. I'm off to NASA._  
_CANTON: Find her? Where do we look?_  
_DOCTOR: Children's homes._

_[Greystark Hall Orphanage]_

_RENFREW: Hello?_  
_CANTON: FBI. You must be Doctor Renfrew. Can we come in?_  
_RENFREW: The children are asleep._  
_AMY: We'll be very quiet._  
_RENFREW: Is there a problem?_  
_CANTON: It's about a missing child._  
_RENFREW: What are you. Yes, come in, please. This way. Please excuse the writing. It keeps happening. I try to clean it up._  
_(On the wall up the staircase are the words Get Out Leave Now in large red letters.)_  
_AMY: It's the kids, yeah? They did that._  
_RENFREW: Yes, the children. It must be, yes. Anyway, my office is this way._  
_CANTON: We nearly didn't come to this place. I understood Graystark Hall was closed in 67._  
_RENFREW: That's the plan, yes._  
_AMY: The plan?_  
_RENFREW: Not long now._  
_CANTON: It's 1969._  
_RENFREW: No, no. We close in 67. That's the plan, yes._  
_CANTON: You misunderstood me, sir. It's 1969 now._  
_RENFREW: Why are you saying that? Of course it isn't._  
_CANTON: July._  
_RENFREW: My office is this way. This way._  
_AMY: I'll check upstairs._  
_CANTON: Be careful._  
_(The first dormitory is derelict and deserted, with the walls graffitied with Leave Me Alone and Get Out Now.)_

_[Apollo 11]_

_DOCTOR: Amy._

_[Dormitory]_

_AMY: I think we've found the place she was taken from._

_[Apollo 11]_

_DOCTOR: How do you know?_  
_AMY: Because those things have been here. But the whole place is deserted._

_[Dormitory]_

_AMY: There's just one guy here and I think he's lost it._

_[Apollo 11]_

_DOCTOR: Repeated memory wipes fry your head eventually. Find out what you can, but don't hang around._

_[Dormitory]_

_AMY: Where are you?_

_[Apollo 11]_

_DOCTOR: Got to go. Got company._  
_(He closes the panel he has been working on.)_  
_DOCTOR: Don't worry, I've put everything back the way I found it. Except this. There's always a bit left over, isn't there?_  
_(The scientists are not amused. The Doctor's gizmo quietly beeps to itself inside the module.)_

_[Dormitory]_

_(The door slams shut behind Amy. She tried to open it then sees the blinking light in her palm.)_  
_AMY [OC]: I can see them, but I think they're asleep. Get out. Just get out!_  
_She tries the windows then sees the tally marks on her hands, and then the lightning shows her reflection in the glass. There are tally marks on her face, too. The aliens are hanging from the ceiling in a cluster, like bats. She bumps into a bucket and they start to wake. Then the door opens and she forgets it all.)_

_[Lecture hall]_

_(Diagrams of the command module and the lander on the blackboards.)_  
_GARDNER: Now, one more time, sir. How the hell did you get into the command module?_  
_DOCTOR: I told you. I'm on a top secret mission for the President._  
_GARDNER: Well, maybe if you just get President Nixon to assure us of that, sir, that would be swell._  
_DOCTOR: I sent him a message._  
_(The President enters, with River and Rory.)_  
_NIXON: Hello. I believe it's Mister Gardner. Is that correct? Head of Security?_  
_GARDNER: Er, yes sir. Yes, Mister President._  
_NIXON: Mister Grant, is it?_  
_GRANT: Yes, Mister President._  
_NIXON: The hopes and dreams of millions of Americans stand here today at Cape Kennedy, and you're the men who guard those dreams. On behalf of the American people, I thank you._  
_GARDNER: You're welcome, Mister President._  
_NIXON: I understand you have a baby on the way, Mister Grant._  
_GRANT: Yes, Mister President._  
_NIXON: What are you hoping for, a boy or a girl?_  
_GRANT: Just a healthy American, sir._  
_NIXON: A healthy American will do just nicely. Now, fellows, listen. This man, here, code name the Doctor, is doing some work for me personally. Could you cut him a little slack?_  
_GARDNER: Er, Mister President, he did break in to Apollo 11._  
_DOCTOR: (silent) Sorry._  
_NIXON: Well, I'm sure he had a very good reason for that. But I need you to release him now so he can get on with some very important work for the American people. Could you do that for me?_  
_GRANT: Well_  
_NIXON: Son, I am your Commander in Chief._  
_GARDNER: Then I guess that would be fine, Mister President._  
_NIXON: Glad to hear it._  
_(The MP releases the Doctor.)_  
_DOCTOR: Thank you. Bye, bye._  
_NIXON: Carry on, gentlemen._  
_(Rory has been examining a model of Eagle. He breaks it.)_  
_RORY: Ahem. America salutes you._

_[Renfrew's office]_

_CANTON: This place, it's been closed for years. What have you been doing?_  
_RENFREW: Oh, the child. She must be cared for. It's important. That's what they said._  
_CANTON: That's what who said?_

_[Attic corridor]_

_(There is a metal door with a small hatch in it. A woman wearing an eye patch looks out at Amy.)_  
_AMY: Hello. Who are you?_  
_(The woman turns away and speaks to someone else.)_  
_EYE PATCH LADY: No, I think she's just dreaming._  
_(The cover of the window slides shut. Amy goes to the door and opens it. It is a cozy child's room.)_  
_AMY: Hello? I saw you looking through the hatch._  
_(Except there isn't one any more.)_

_[Bedroom]_

_(There are a lot of photographs on the chest of drawers, including one of...)_  
_AMY: How? How can that be me?_  
_(She is pictured holding a baby. The astronaut enters.)_  
_AMY: Who are you? I don't understand, so just tell me who you are._  
_(The astronaut raises its gold visor. It is the little girl. There is a crack in the helmet.)_  
_AMY: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shoot you. I'm glad I missed. But you killed the Doctor. Or you're going to kill him. But who are you? Just please tell me, because I don't understand._  
_GIRL: Please help me. Help me. Please._  
_(Two aliens enter. Amy screams.)_

_[Renfrew's office]_

_(Someone knocks on the door. Renfrew answers it.)_  
_RENFREW: It's just some questions. Yes, I see._  
_CANTON: Who was that? Doctor Renfrew. Who was that?_  
_RENFREW: Who was who?_  
_(An alien enters. Canton activates his recorder.)_  
_CANTON: What are you? You can tell me, because I won't remember. You invaded us. You're everywhere._  
_AMY [OC]: Help me! Please. I can't see. Somebody, help me._  
_CANTON: Are you armed?_  
_SILENCE: This world is ours. We have ruled it since the wheel and the fire. We have no need of weapons._  
_CANTON: Yeah?_  
_(Canton shoots the alien.)_  
_CANTON: Welcome to America. Amy!_

_[Oval office]_

_(The Doctor has returned Nixon to Washington in the Tardis.)_  
_DOCTOR: You have to tape everything that happens in this office. Every word, or you won't know if you're under the influence._  
_NIXON: Doctor, you have to give me more than this. What were you doing to Apollo 11?_  
_DOCTOR: Thing. A clever thing. Now, no more questions. You have to trust me and nobody else._  
_(River pops out of the Tardis with the telephone.)_  
_RIVER: Doctor, it's Canton. Quick, he needs us._

_[Attic corridor]_

_AMY [OC]: Help me. Please, I can't. I can't see. Somebody help me._  
_(Canton finds the bedroom door. It is locked.)_  
_CANTON: Amy! Amy, can you hear me? Amy, I'm going to try to blow the lock. I need you to stand back._  
_DOCTOR: Okay, gun down. I've got it._  
_RORY: Amy, we're here. Are you okay?_  
_AMY [OC]: I can't see._  
_(They rush into the room. The little girl is hiding along the corridor.)_

_[Bedroom]_

_RORY: Where is she, Doctor?_  
_(The spacesuit is lying on the floor.)_  
_RIVER: It's empty._  
_AMY [OC]: It's dark. So dark. I don't know where I am. Please, can anybody hear me?_  
_(Amy's nanorecorder is on the floor, flashing.)_  
_RORY: They took this out of her. How did they do that, Doctor? Why can I still hear her?_  
_RIVER: Is it a recording?_  
_DOCTOR: Er, it defaults to live. This is current. Wherever she is right now, this is what she's saying._  
_RORY: Amy, can you hear me? We're coming for you. Wherever you are, we're coming, I swear._  
_DOCTOR: She can't hear you. I'm so sorry. It's one way._  
_RORY: She can always hear me, Doctor. Always. Wherever she is, and she always knows that I am coming for her. Do you understand me? Always._  
_AMY [OC]: Doctor, are you out there? Can you hear me? Doctor? Oh, God. Please, please, Doctor, just get me out of this._  
_RORY: He's coming. I'll bring him, I swear._  
_RENFREW: Hello? Is somebody there? I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We c. I can't re. I can't remember._

_[Renfrew's office]_

_(The Silence is still alive.)_  
_DOCTOR: Okay. Who and what are you?_  
_SILENCE: Silence, Doctor. We are the Silence._  
_PRISONER ZERO [memory]: Silence, Doctor._  
_DOCTOR [memory]: Rory, listen to that._  
_RORY [memory]: Silence._  
_ROSANNA [memory]: We ran from the Silence._  
_DOCTOR [memory]: The Silence?_  
_SILENCE: And Silence will fall._

_[Area 51]_

_(The cell door opens and the soldiers ready their weapons.)_  
_CANTON: Hello again._  
_ISHEM: Sir, you've been in there for days. What the hell have you been doing?_  
_CANTON: It doesn't matter. I need Doctor Shepherd here right now._  
_ISHEM: Sir, I need to talk to Colonel Jefferson right now._  
_CANTON: No, you really don't._  
_(Because their Commander in Chief walks out of the cell.)_  
_NIXON: Er, hiya, fellows. I'm President Nixon. I want to tell you, on behalf of the American people, how much we appreciate all of your hard work._  
_TELEVISION: The target for the Apollo 11 astronauts, the Moon, at liftoff, will be at a distance of 218,096 miles away. We're just past the two minute mark in the countdown. T minus one minute fifty four seconds and counting._

_[Warehouse]_

_(They are examining the spacesuit with the alien's own technology.)_  
_RIVER: It's an exoskeleton. Basically, life support. There's about twenty different kinds of alien tech in here._  
_DOCTOR: Who was she? Why put her in here?_  
_RIVER: You put this on, you don't even need to eat. The suit processes sunlight directly. It's got built in weaponry, and a communications system that can hack into anything._  
_DOCTOR: Including the telephone network?_  
_RIVER: Easily._  
_DOCTOR: But why phone the President?_  
_RIVER: It defaults to the highest authority it can find. The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call. The night terrors with a hotline to the White House._  
_(The Doctor licks his invitation envelope.)_  
_RIVER: You won't learn anything from that envelope, you know._  
_DOCTOR: Purchased on earth. Perfectly ordinary stationery. Tardis blue. Summoned by a stranger who won't even show his face. That's a first, for me. How about you?_  
_RIVER: Our lives are back to front. Your future's my past. Your firsts are my lasts._  
_DOCTOR: That's not really what I asked._  
_RIVER: Ask something else, then._  
_DOCTOR: What are the Silence doing, raising a child?_  
_RIVER: Keeping her safe, even giving her independence._  
_DOCTOR: The only way to save Amy is to work out what the Silence are doing._  
_RORY: I know._  
_DOCTOR: And every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer._  
_RORY: Yeah, Doctor, I get it. I know._  
_DOCTOR: Of course, it's possible she's not just any little girl._  
_RIVER: Well, I'd say she's human, going by the life support software._  
_DOCTOR: But?_  
_RIVER: She climbed out of this suit. Like she forced her way out. She must be incredibly strong._  
_DOCTOR: Incredibly strong and running away. I like her._  
_RIVER: We should be trying to find her._  
_DOCTOR: Yes, I know. But how? Anyway, I have the strangest feeling she's going to find us._  
_TELEVISION: Apollo 11, this is Houston. How do you read? Over._  
_RORY: Why does it look like a NASA spacesuit?_  
_DOCTOR: Because that's what the Silence do. Think about it. They don't make anything themselves. They don't have to. They get other life forms to do it for them._  
_RIVER: So they're parasites, then._  
_DOCTOR: Superparasites, standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behaviour any way they want. If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years._  
_RORY: Then what?_  
_DOCTOR: Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the Moon?_  
_TELEVISION: Ten, nine. Ignition sequence start. six, five, four_  
_DOCTOR: Because the Silence needed a spacesuit._  
_TELEVISION: One, zero. All engines running. Liftoff. We have a liftoff. Thirty two minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11._

_[Cell]_

_SHEPHERD: My God. What is it?_  
_CANTON: It's just an alien, Doctor Shepherd._  
_SHEPHERD: Someone's already been treating it._  
_CANTON: Yeah, you've been treating it._  
_SHEPHERD: Does Colonel Jefferson know this thing is here?_  
_CANTON: No._  
_SHEPHERD: Then I'm going to tell him right now._  
_CANTON: Again._  
_SHEPHERD: Sorry, what?_  
_CANTON: Exactly._  
_SHEPHERD: Sergeant, why was I called in here for no reason?_  
_(Shepherd leaves.)_  
_SILENCE: You tend to my wounds. You are foolish._  
_(Canton uses a mobile phone to video record the conversation.)_  
_CANTON: Why? What would you do in my place?_  
_SILENCE: We have ruled your lives since your lives began. You should kill us all on sight, but you will never remember we were even here. You will evolve._  
_CANTON: Yeah? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but thanks. That's exactly what I needed to hear. This is a videophone. Whatever a videophone is._

_[Warehouse]_

_(The video file arrives on River's tricorder.)_  
_SILENCE [on screen]: You should kill us all on sight._  
_AMY [OC]: Help me, Doctor._  
_(The spacesuit glove twitches.)_  
_RIVER: This suit, it seems to be repairing itself. How's it doing that? Doctor, a unit like this, would it ever be able to move without an occupant?_  
_DOCTOR: Why?_  
_RIVER: Well, the little girl said the spaceman was coming to eat her. Maybe that's exactly what happened._  
_AMY [OC]: I love you. I know you think it's him. I know you think it ought to be him, but it's not. It's you. And when I see you again, I'm going to tell you properly, just to see your stupid face. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky. So just get your stupid face where I can see it, okay? Okay?_  
_DOCTOR: She'll be safe for now. No point in a dead hostage._  
_RORY: Can't you save her?_  
_DOCTOR: I can track that signal back. Take us right to her._  
_RORY: Then why haven't you?_  
_DOCTOR: Because then what? I find her and then what do I do? This isn't an alien invasion. They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome._  
_RORY: Rome fell._  
_DOCTOR: I know. I was there._  
_RORY: So was I._  
_DOCTOR: Personal question._  
_RORY: Seriously, you?_  
_DOCTOR: Do you ever remember it? Two thousand years, waiting for Amy? The last Centurion._  
_RORY: No._  
_DOCTOR: You're lying._  
_RORY: Of course I'm lying._  
_DOCTOR: Of course you are. Not the sort of thing anyone forgets._  
_RORY: But I don't remember it all the time. It's like this door in my head. I can keep it shut._  
_AMY [OC]: Please, please, just come and get me. Come and get me._  
_TELEVISION: The Flight Controller's going to go for landing. Just five days since Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, this unprecedented journey is reaching its crucial moment. Armstrong and Aldrin are making their descent to the surface of the Moon._  
_DUKE [OC]: We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue._

_[Spaceship]_

_(Oh look, it's that set again.)_  
_AMY: Where am I? Where is this?_  
_(Amy is fastened with alien tech.)_  
_SILENCE: You are Amelia Pond._  
_AMY: You're ugly. Has anyone mentioned that to you?_  
_SILENCE: We do you honour. You will bring the Silence. But your part will soon be over._  
_AMY: Whatever that means, you've made a big mistake, bringing me here, because wait until you see what's coming for you now._  
_SILENCE: You have been here many days._  
_AMY: No, I just got here. You just put me in here._  
_SILENCE: Your memory is weak. You have been here many days._  
_AMY: No. No, I can't have been._  
_SILENCE: You will sleep now. Sleep._  
_AMY: No._  
_SILENCE: Sleep._  
_AMY: No. Get off me. No. No._  
_SILENCE: Sleep._  
_AMY: No!_  
_(The Tardis materialises.)_

 

The Doctor had burst in with his usual flourish and now felt the need to hold a great speech."Ah. Now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident." He twirled around, opting to watch all the Silents instead of just the one. "Oh, and this is my friend River. Big hair, clever, has her own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. And I don't, but I don't hate it either."

"Thank you, sweetie."

"I know you're team players and everything, but she'll definitely kill at least the first three of you."

They were standing back to back now and River states, "Well, the first seven, easily."

"Seven? Really?"

"Eight when I'm in the mood for it."

"Such a show off."

She sounded a bit offended. "As if you aren't."

"Sorry, is this an important conversation?" Amy interrupted. "Because I feel like I should be higher on the list right now."

"Yes. Right. Sorry. As I was saying, my friend here is going to kill the first three of you to attack, plus him behind, so maybe you want to draw lots or have a quiz."

 

_(Rory is trying to free Amy.)_  
_AMY: What's he got?_  
_RORY: Something, I hope._  
_DOCTOR: Or maybe you could just listen a minute. Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender and then I'll let you go in peace. Yes, you've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. Yes, people have suffered and died, but what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving, now and then? Ooo, the Silence. You guys take that seriously, don't you? Okay, you got me. I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas. First, you tell me about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?_  
_McCANDLESS [OC]: And we're getting a picture on the TV._  
_DOCTOR: Guys, sorry, but you're way out of time. Now, come on. A bit of history for you. Aren't you proud? Because you helped. Now, do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion. And that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years, and every single one of them at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it._  
_TELEVISION: Okay, engine stop. ATA on the descent. Modes control both auto. Descent engine command off._  
_(The Doctor gets out his phone.)_  
_DOCTOR: Oh. But don't forget this bit. Ready?_

_[Cell]_

_CANTON: Ready._  
_(Canton attaches the videophone to the Doctor's super satellite phone, and dials up Apollo 11.)_

_[Spaceship]_

_ARMSTRONG [OC]: That's one small step for a man_  
_SILENCE [on TV]: You should kill us all on sight. You should kill us all on sight. You should kill us all on sight. You should kill us all on sight._  
_DOCTOR: You've given the order for your own execution, and the whole planet just heard you._  
_SILENCE [OC]: You should kill us all on sight._  
_ARMSTRONG [OC]: One giant leap for mankind._  
_DOCTOR: And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence. You just raised an army against yourself and now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet. They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly, the word you're looking for right now is oops. Run! Guys, I mean us. Run._  
_(The Silence is generating its electric shock. River starts shooting.)_  
_RORY: I can't get her out!_  
_AMY: Go. Go._  
_RORY: We are not leaving without you._  
_AMY: Look, will you just get your stupid face out of here._  
_RIVER: Run! Into the Tardis, quickly._  
_(The Doctor sonicks Amy free, and Rory helps her into the Tardis.)_  
_DOCTOR: Don't let them build to full power._  
_RIVER: I know. There's a reason why I'm shooting, honey. What are you doing?_  
_DOCTOR: Helping._  
_RIVER: You've got a screwdriver. Go build a cabinet._  
_DOCTOR: That's really rude._  
_RIVER: Learn how to drive._  
_(The Doctor goes to the Tardis. River spins around and around, shooting all the time. Finally all the Silence lie dead.)_  
_RIVER: My old fellow didn't see that, did he? He gets ever so cross._  
_RORY: So, what kind of doctor are you?_  
_(She shoots a Silence behind her without looking.)_  
_RIVER: Archaeology. Love a tomb._

_[Tardis]_

_DOCTOR: You can let me fly it._  
_RIVER: Yeah, or we could go where we're supposed to._  
_AMY: What's the matter with you?_  
_RORY: You called me stupid._  
_AMY: I always call you stupid._  
_RORY: No, but my face._  
_(He shows her the nanorecorder he is holding.)_  
_RORY: I wasn't sure who you were talking about. You know, me or_  
_AMY: Him?_  
_RORY: Well, you did say dropped out of the sky._  
_AMY: It's a figure of speech, moron._  
_(She kisses him.)_  
_RORY: Thanks._  
_AMY: You're welcome._

_[Oval office]_

_NIXON: So we're safe again._  
_DOCTOR: Safe? No, of course you're not safe. There's about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world. But, if you want to pretend you're safe, just so you can sleep at night? Okay, you're safe. But you're not really. Canton. Until the next one, eh?_  
_CANTON: Looking forward to it._  
_DOCTOR: Canton just wants to get married. Hell of a reason to kick him out of the FBI._  
_NIXON: I'm sure something can be arranged._  
_DOCTOR: I'm counting on you._  
_NIXON: Er, Doctor. Canton here tells me you're, you're from the future. It hardly seems possible, but I was wondering_  
_DOCTOR: I should warn you I don't answer a lot of questions._  
_NIXON: But I'm a President at the beginning of his time. Dare I ask. Will I be remembered?_  
_DOCTOR: Oh, Dicky. Tricky Dicky. They're never going to forget you. Say hi to David Frost for me._  
_NIXON: David Frost?_  
_(The Tardis dematerialises.)_  
_NIXON: This person you want to marry. Black?_  
_CANTON: Yes._  
_NIXON: Hmm. I know what people think of me, but perhaps I'm a little more liberal._  
_CANTON: He is._  
_NIXON: I think the Moon is far enough, for now, don't you, Mister Delaware?_  
_CANTON: I figured it might be._

 

"You could come with us," the Doctor offered as he dropped River off at Stomcage.

"I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to." She patted him on the cheek like an annoying aunt. The Doctor made a face, but gave her a smile. River continued, "You'll understand soon enough."

"Okay. Up to you. See you next time. Call me." He walked back to his ship.

"What, that's it? I don't even get a hug?"

"Alright sure. You didn't strike me as a hugging person." He embraced her and kissed her forhead like he sometimes did with Amy.

"I'm not." Her smile falters a bit. "Normally you insist."

He pushed his hair out of his face and walked backwards to the Tardis. "Well, there is a first time for everything, you know." He waved goodbye and took off.

"And a last time."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I have a question: Do you want me to include transcripts of the episodes to provide context? Because I realize the little sections often seem out of place. I would not rewrite the entire episode but take Chakoteya's transcripts and put them inbetween the rewritten parts.


	5. A Good Man Goes To War

_[White room]_

_(On Demon's Run, an asteroid modified into a habitation, a baby has been born. Her name is Melody Pond.)_   
_AMY: I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved, that you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies. What you are going to be, Melody is very, very brave._   
_(The Eye Patch Lady steps forward from the line of armed guards.)_   
_KOVARIAN: Two minutes._   
_AMY: But not as brave as they'll have to be. Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me, he's on his way._

_[Cyberspaceship]_

_(Twenty thousand light years away, non-Cybus Industries logoed but otherwise identical cybermen stomps through the corridors.)_   
_CYBERMAN: Intruder level nine._   
_CYBERLEADER: Seal level nine._

_[White room]_

_AMY: There's a man who's never going to let us down, and not even an army can get in the way._   
_(Madame Kovarian comes to take the baby.)_   
_AMY: Leave her. Just you leave her. Please leave her! Please, leave her!_

_[Cyberspaceship]_

_(The ship is shaking.)_   
_CYBERMAN: Intruder level eleven._   
_CYBERLEADER: Seal levels twelve, thirteen and fourteen._   
_CYBERMAN: Intruder, level fifteen._

_[White room]_

_(Melody is in a high-tec Moses basket.)_   
_AMY: He's the last of his kind. He looks young, but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Because this man is your father._

_[Cyberspaceship]_

_CYBERLEADER: Prepare to engage._

_[White room]_

_AMY: He has a name, but the people of our world know him better_

_[Cyberspaceship]_

_AMY [OC]: As the Last Centurion._   
_RORY: I have a message and a question. A message from the Doctor and a question from me. Where is my wife? Oh, don't give me those blank looks. The Twelfth Cyber Legion monitors this entire quadrant. You hear everything. So you tell me what I need to know. You tell me now, and I'll be on my way._   
_CYBERLEADER: What is the Doctor's message?_   
_(Outside, all the other ships in the Legion explode.)_   
_RORY: Would you like me to repeat the question?_

_[Docking bay]_

_(Two Cleric soldiers are walking along.)_   
_LUCAS: A whole Cyber Legion though. He just blew them all up to make a point._   
_DOMINICUS: We're being paid to fight him, not praise him. Praising costs way more._   
_(They get into a lift.)_   
_LUCAS: Level Minus Twenty Three Transept._

_{Level -23]_

_LUCAS: Digger says he once chased the Atraxi off a planet, then called them back for a scolding._   
_DOMINICUS: Fight him, not praise him._   
_TANNOY: Reminder. This base is on Yellow Alert. This base is on Yellow Alert._   
_(They pass a young woman doing some sewing.)_

_[Control room]_

_(The two Clerics have her on CCTV.)_   
_LUCAS: Is she sewing?_   
_DOMINICUS: She's on a break. She can do what she likes. Now try again._   
_(He holds up two pieces of paper.)_   
_LUCAS: That one._   
_DOMINICUS: No, that's the psychic. You've got to look for the fractals. Don't look bored, we're on Yellow Alert._   
_LUCAS: We've been on Yellow Alert for three weeks._

_[Corridor]_

_TANNOY: Reminder. Do not interact with Headless Monks without divine permission. Do not interact with Headless Monks without divine permission._   
_FAT ONE: You're not supposed to stare at them. And if they think you're trying to see under their hoods, they'll kill you on the spot._   
_THIN ONE: But why are they called the Headless Monks? They can't really be headless?_   
_LORNA: They believe the domain of faith is the heart, and the domain of doubt is the head. They follow their hearts, that's all._   
_THIN ONE: You're Lorna Bucket, aren't you?_   
_LORNA: Yeah._   
_THIN ONE: Hello. I'm the Thin One. This is my husband. He's the Fat One._   
_LORNA: Don't you have names?_   
_FAT ONE: We're the thin fat gay married Anglican marines. Why would we need names as well?_   
_(Three Headless Monks are 'looking' at them.)_   
_FAT ONE: Oh, looks like I'm off. Time for my conversion tutorial. See you in a bit. Do you lot have Lent? Because I'm not good at giving things up._   
_(The Fat One leaves with the Monks.)_   
_THIN ONE: Lorna Bucket. You've had an Encounter, haven't you? You've met him._   
_LORNA: I was just a kid._   
_THIN ONE: But what's he like? The Doctor._   
_LORNA: He said run._   
_THIN ONE: Just run?_   
_LORNA: He said it a lot._   
_THIN ONE: And this was in the Gamma Forests, yeah? Because you're a Gamma girl, aren't you? What are you doing here? The Forests are heaven neutral._   
_LORNA: Yeah, and thirty seconds of the Doctor is the only thing that ever happened there._

_[Conversion chamber]_

_(Red light.)_   
_FAT ONE: Oh, this is nice, I like this. I mean, quite a lot of red. I hope it's not to hide the stains. What's in the little boxes?_   
_VOICE [OC]: Welcome, applicant, to the order of the Headless. It is traditional for visiting armies of other faiths to offer individuals for conversion to our order. You have been selected. Are you ready to make a donation?_   
_(A Monk brings forward an empty box.)_

_[Corridor]_

_THIN ONE: So, what do you think? If the Doctor's really coming here, where is he?_   
_LORNA: He's the Doctor. He could be anywhere in time and space._

_[London, 1888 A.D.]_

_(A horsedrawn cab pulls up and a woman gets out. She references Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds.)_   
_PARKER: Whoa!_   
_VASTRA: Thank you, Parker. I won't be needing you again tonight._   
_PARKER: Yus, my lady._

_[Vastra's home]_

_(The lady goes into her house and is greeted by her maid.)_   
_JENNY: You're back early, ma'am. Another case cracked, I assume?_   
_(The mysterious lady puts a Samuri sword back on its stand.)_   
_VASTRA: Send a telegram to Inspector Abberline of the yard. Jack the Ripper has claimed his last victim._   
_JENNY: How did you find him?_   
_(The lady throws back her hood to reveal that she is a Silurian.)_   
_VASTRA: Stringy, but tasty all the same. I shan't be needing dinner._   
_JENNY: Congratulations, ma'am. However, a matter has arisen in the drawing room._

_[Drawing room]_

_JENNY: It just appeared. What does it mean?_   
_VASTRA: It means a very old debt is to be repaid._   
_(It is the Tardis.)_   
_VASTRA: Pack the cases, Jenny. And we're going to need the swords._

_[The Battle of Zaruthstra, 4037 A.D.]_

_HARCOURT: Nurse! Nurse! Damn it, where's the nurse!_   
_ELEANOR: He needs help._   
_HARCOURT: Madame President, I'm sorry, but we have to go now! Those things could be here any second._   
_(A little boy is lying on a bed in the tent. He is very still. A Sontaran warrior enters.)_   
_STRAX: Did somebody call for a nurse?_   
_(Strax tends to the boy.)_   
_ARTHUR: Will I be okay?_   
_STRAX: Of course you will, my boy. You'll be up and around in no time. And perhaps one day, you and I shall meet on the field of battle, and I will destroy you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire._   
_ARTHUR: Thanks, Nurse._   
_(Strax leaves, and Harcourt follows him.)_   
_HARCOURT: Commander Strax. I just have to ask. A Sontaran nurse?_   
_STRAX: I serve a penance to restore the honour of my clone batch. It is the greatest punishment a Sontaran can endure, to help the weak and sick._   
_HARCOURT: Who came up with that one?_   
_(The sound of the Tardis materialising.)_   
_STRAX: Tonight, though, perhaps my penance is over. Captain Harcourt, I hope some day to meet you in the glory of battle, when I shall crush the life from your worthless human form. Try and get some rest._

 

 

River Song, in appropriate 1960s attire, was going through the corridors of Stormcage, humming to herself as alarms blazed around her.

She picked up the guard's phone. "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking in, not out," she said with a laugh in her voice. "This is River Song, back in her cell. Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time." Adding a playful "Thank you" she hung up. The alarms stopped. Her wish was their command.

She was about to enter her cell when she saw a figure standing in the shadow.

Of course she recognized him, but played the fool, not knowng where he was in his time stream. "Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos."

"Doctor Song," he adressed her way too formally. "It's Rory. Sorry, have we met yet? Time streams. I'm not quite sure where we are."

His voice was serious and he didn't have Amy with him, reason enough to stop playing games. "Yes. Yes, we've met." She took a few steps closer to him, she hadn't seen him in quite a while. "Hello, Rory."

"What's wrong?", he asked, seeing her discomfort.

"It's my birthday. The Doctor took me on a Stevie Wonder concert in 1965."

"He remembered your birthday?"

"It took him quite a few years to get it right, it's easy to lose track of time, isn't it?"

"I've come from the Doctor too."

"Yes, but at a different point in time."

"Unless there's two of them."

"Now, that's something that hasn't happened in quite a while." She turned away, taking out her diary on the way to her cell door.

"It did for me, but that's not why I'm here. He needs you."  
  
River' eyes fell on the page of her book. "Demon's Run," she stated flatly.

 

 

_RORY: How, how did you know?_   
_RIVER: I'm from his future. I always know. Why on Earth are you wearing that?_   
_RORY: The Doctor's idea._   
_RIVER: Of course. His rules of engagement. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee._   
_RORY: Look ridiculous._   
_RIVER: Have you considered heels?_   
_RORY: They've taken Amy. And our baby. The Doctor's getting some people together. We're going after her, but he needs you, too._   
_RIVER: I can't. Not yet, anyway._   
_RORY: I'm sorry?_   
_RIVER: This is the Battle of Demon's Run. The Doctor's darkest hour. He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further, and I can't be with him till the very end._   
_RORY: Why not?_   
_RIVER: Because this is it. This is the day he finds out who I am._

_[Space bar]_

_(A large blue skinned alien is packing a small case.)_   
_DORIUM: Goodbye._   
_KOVARIAN: You appear to be closing down, Dorium. What have you heard?_   
_DORIUM: That you pricked the side of a mighty beast, Madame Kovarian, and entirely failed to run. I admire your courage. I should like to admire it from afar._   
_KOVARIAN: We've been waiting a month. He's done nothing._   
_DORIUM: Do you really think so? There are people all over this galaxy that owe that man a debt. By now, a few of them will have found a blue box waiting for them on their doorstep, poor devils._   
_MANTON: You think he's raising an army?_   
_DORIUM: You think he isn't? If that man is finally collecting on his debts, God help you, and God help his debtors._   
_MANTON: Why?_   
_DORIUM: Colonel Manton, all those stories you've heard about him, they're not stories, they're true. Really. You're not telling me you don't know what's coming?_   
_MANTON: We're wasting our time here._   
_KOVARIAN: Agreed._   
_DORIUM: The asteroid, where you've made your base. Do you know why they call it Demon's Run?_   
_MANTON: How do you know the location of our base?_   
_DORIUM: You're with the Headless Monks. They're old customers of mine._   
_KOVARIAN: It's just some old saying._   
_DORIUM: A very old saying. The oldest. Demons run when a good man goes to war._   
_(Kovarian and Manton leave. Dorium is about to leave when the Tardis sound is heard.)_   
_DORIUM: No. No, no, please. Not me. You don't need me. Why would you need me? I'm old, I'm fat, I'm blue. You can't need me!_

_[Demon's Run]_

_(Colonel Manton addresses his assembled troops.)_   
_MANTON: He is not the devil. He is not a god. He is not a goblin, or a phantom or a trickster. The Doctor is a living, breathing man, and as I look around this room I know one thing. We're sure as hell going to fix that._   
_(The troops cheer.)_

_[White room]_

_(Amy is watching the rally from her window. Lorna enters.)_   
_LORNA: Sorry. I shouldn't be here. I'm meant to be at the thing. I brought you something. Your child's name in the language of my people. It's a prayer leaf and we believe, if you keep this with you, your child will always come home to you._   
_(It is what she was sewing earlier.)_   
_AMY: Can I borrow your gun?_   
_LORNA: Why?_   
_AMY: Because I've got a feeling you're going to keep talking._   
_(She turns back to the window.)_   
_AMY: They're talking like he's famous. The Doctor isn't famous._   
_LORNA: He meets a lot of people. Some of them remember. He's sort of like a, I don't know, a dark legend._   
_AMY: Dark? Have you met him?_   
_LORNA: Yeah. But I was just a little girl._   
_AMY: So was I._   
_LORNA: You've been with him a long time, then._   
_AMY: No. He came back for me._   
_LORNA: You must be very special._   
_AMY: Hey. You can wait a long time for the Doctor, but he's worth it, okay? The thing is, he's coming. No question about it. Just you make sure you're on the right side when he gets here. Not for my sake, for yours._   
_(Amy takes the prayer leaf.)_   
_AMY: Thank you._

_[Demon's Run]_

_MANTON: On this day, in this place, the Doctor will fall._   
_ALL: Hoo Rah!_   
_MANTON: The man who talks, the man who reasons, the man who lies, will meet the perfect answer._   
_ALL Hoo Rah!_   
_MANTON; Some of you have wondered why have we have allied ourselves with the Headless Monks. Perhaps you should have wondered why we call them Headless. It's time you knew what these guys have sacrificed for faith. As you all know, it is a Level One Heresy, punishable by death, to lower the hood of a Headless Monk. But by the divine grant of the Papal Mainframe herself, on this one and only occasion, I can show you the truth. Because these guys never can be persuaded._   
_(Colonel Manton lowers one Monk's hood. It has no head, just the skin of the neck tied off..)_   
_MANTON: They never can be afraid._   
_(A second hood lowered.)_   
_MANTON: And they can never, ever be_   
_(The third hood reveals -)_   
_DOCTOR: Surprised! Ha, ha! Hello, everyone. Guess who. Please, point a gun at me if it helps you relax._   
_(The army takes aim, except for Lorna. The Monks get their flaming swords ready.)_   
_DOCTOR: You're only human._

_[Control room]_

_(Lucas and Dominicus have very sharp swords at their throats.)_   
_VASTRA: Go on, resist. I am ever so hungry._   
_JENNY: Now, dear. Which button controls the lights?_

_[Demon's Run]_

_MANTON: Doctor, you will come with me right now._   
_DOCTOR: Three minutes forty seconds. Amelia Pond! Get your coat!_   
_(The lights go out for a few seconds.)_   
_DOCTOR [OC]: I'm not a phantom._   
_MANTON: Doctor?_   
_DOCTOR [OC]: I'm not a trick._   
_MANTON: Doctor?_   
_DOCTOR [OC]: I'm a monk._   
_MANTON: Doctor, show yourself._   
_MAN: It's him! He's here! It's him!_   
_(The army faces off against the Monks. A shot is fired.)_   
_MANTON: Weapons down! Do not fire!_   
_(A Monk kills a soldier.)_   
_MANTON: No!_   
_KOVARIAN: Follow me._   
_MANTON: Doctor! Doctor!_

_[Control room]_

_(Lucas and Dominicus are tied up and sitting on the floor.)_   
_JENNY: Clever, isn't he?_   
_VASTRA: And rather attractive._   
_JENNY: You do realise he's a man, don't you, ma'am?_   
_VASTRA: Mammals. They all look alike._   
_JENNY: Oh, thank you._

_[Demon's Run]_

_MANTON: Do not fire. Nobody discharge their weapon in this room. Nobody! Do not fire!_   
_(A sonic screwdriver is in use.)_

_[Control room]_

_(Lucas is eyeing the door lock control.)_   
_VASTRA: Was I being insensitive again, dear? I don't know why you put up with me._   
_(She turns and lashes Lucas with her extendible tongue.)_

_[Demon's Run]_

_MANTON: Stop. Wait. Listen to me. I am disarming my weapon pack. Monks, I do this in good faith. I am now unarmed. All of you, discharge your weapon packs. The Doctor is trying to make fools of us. We are soldiers of God. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools._   
_SOLDIER: We are not fools!_   
_MANTON: We are not fools._   
_SOLDIERS: We are not fools._   
_MANTON: We are not fools._   
_SOLDIER 2: We are not fools._

_[Control station]_

_VASTRA: Colonel Manton is regaining control._   
_JENNY: Where's the Doctor gone?_

_[Demon's Run]_

_(Lorna has left the assembly and found a discarded habit in a corridor. She runs on.)_   
_ALL: We are not fools. We are not fools. We are not fools._   
_(Silurians beam in to the galleries around the assembly. Some Judoons appear, too)_   
_STRAX: This base is now under our command._   
_MANTON: I have a fleet out there. If Demon's Run goes down, there's an automatic distress call._   
_DOCTOR [OC]: Not if we knock out your communications array. And you've got incoming._   
_PILOT [OC]: Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor._   
_DOCTOR: Give 'em hell, Danny Boy._   
_(The Spitfires strafe the asteroid's communications array.)_

_[Corridor]_

_KOVARIAN: I need to get off this station now. Bring me the child!_

_[Demon's Run]_

_PILOT [OC]: Target destroyed._   
_STRAX: Don't slump. It's bad for your spine._

_[Outside the airlock]_

_(Madame Kovarian's guard have brought Melody in her sealed up Moses basket.)_   
_KOVARIAN: Get back in there with the rest of them. Remember, the Doctor must think he's winning, right until the trap closes. I'll take my ship from here._   
_(Lorna has overheard her.)_   
_COMPUTER: Airlock engaged. Shuttle ready for boarding._   
_RORY: No._   
_KOVARIAN: I have a crew of twenty. How do you expect to gain control of my ship?_   
_(The airlock opens. A pirate captain and his young son step out.)_   
_AVERY: This ship is ours, milady._

_[Control room]_

_(Strax marches Manton in at gunpoint.)_   
_STRAX: All airlocks sealed. Resistance neutralised._   
_DOCTOR: Sorry, Colonel Manton. I lied. Three minutes forty two seconds._   
_STRAX: Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw._   
_DOCTOR: No. Colonel Manton, I want you to tell your men to run away._   
_MANTON: You what?_   
_DOCTOR: Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run Away. I want children laughing outside your door, because they've found the house of Colonel Run Away. And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look, I'm angry. That's new. I'm really not sure what's going to happen now._   
_KOVARIAN: The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules._   
_DOCTOR: Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many._   
_KOVARIAN: Give the order. Give the order, Colonel Run Away._

_[White room]_

_(Someone is hammering at the door. Amy rummages in a drawer and finds what might be an electric toothbrush.)_   
_AMY: Who's that? Who's there? You watch it, because I'm armed and really dangerous, and cross._   
_RORY [OC]: Yeah, like I don't know that._   
_AMY: Rory? Rory, is that you._   
_RORY [OC]: Yeah, it's me. Look, hang on a minute._   
_(It sounds like Rory is trying to sonic his way in.)_   
_AMY: They took her. Rory, they took our baby away._

 

 

When the door to Amy's prison opened, she was faced with her _husband_ holding their _daughter_.

"Now, Mrs Williams, that is _never, ever_ gonna happen."

He brought her down the stairs, so Amy could look at her. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Where's she been? What have they done to her?"

"She's fine. Amy, she's fine. I checked. She's beautiful." Rory sniffed and looked up, trying to will the tears away. "Oh God, I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool. Look at me."

"You're okay. Crying Roman with a baby. Definitely cool," she told him, crying as well. "Come here, you."

They shared a few kisses of relief, before being interrupted by the Doctor.

"Eurgh. Kissing and crying. I, I, I'll ... I'll be back in a bit."

Rory didn't think so. "Oi, you. Get in here. Now."

The Doctor went down the stairs to join them.

"My daughter," Rory said, when the Doctor pointed at her, laughing. "What do you think?"

The Doctor tilted his head to the side. "If she is anything like the two of you, I like her already."

Rory exchanged a look with his wife. Although she wasn't exactly Christian, Amy had always liked the thought of Godparents, because neither her nor Rory had siblings to fill the role of an uncle or an aunt. Rory had originally thought that this part would go to Mels, but the Doctor didn't have any family besides the Ponds.

Amy seemed to know what Rory was thinking. "It's good that you like her Doctor. You know why?"

"Because you would murder me if I didn't?"

"Doctor," Rory said. "What do you think about being a godfather?"

Amy thought the Doctor would faint right on the spot. He gaped at her husband for a few moments and then pressed a kiss to the side of Rory's head. The latter made a face, but didn't protest.

"I ... really?"

"Really," Amy promised, laughing softly.

He beamed at her and then bowed over the little girl. "Hello," the Time Lord said seriously, shaking her hand as if she was an adult. "Hello, uhm, Baby."

"Melody," Amy corrected and Rory looked up, surprised. If Mels wasn't going to be godmother, then at least she would give her name for the baby.

The Doctor adressed the child again. "Melody? Hello, Melody Pond, I'm your godfather."

"Melody Williams," Rory said, rolling his eyes fondly.

But his wife was of the same opinion. "Melody Williams is a geography teacher. Melody Pond is a superhero."

Melody gurgled at the Doctor.

"Well yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her. Maybe I should give it a go." He turned to the proud mum and enveloped her in a tight hug. "Amelia Pond!"

"Doctor."

"I'm sorry we were so long." He sniffed her hair before releasing her again.

"It's okay. I knew you were coming. Both of you. My boys."

Melody made another adorable little noise.

"It's okay," the Doctor responded. "She's still all yours. And really, you should call her mummy, not big milk thing."

The parents exchanged an exasperated look. "Okay, _what_ are you doing?" Amy asked.

"I speak Baby."

" _No_ , you don't."

"I speak everything, don't I, Melody Pond."

She made a few more noises.

The Doctor straightened his bowtie. "No, it's not. it's cool. You're already like your parents."

Then Vastra entered, a strange awe in her voice. "Doctor! Take a look. They're leaving."

The Doctor went over to the window to see for himself.

"Demon's Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled ... My friend, you have never risen higher."

He didn't see the alarm on Rory's face.

 

 

_[Outside the Tardis]_

_(Amy carried Melody out of the Tardis.)_   
_RORY: Hey, what's wrong?_   
_AMY: She doesn't like the Tardis noise. I asked him to turn something off, but it was all, but I don't want to punch a hole in the space-time continuum. Shush._   
_JENNY: Rory! The Judoon have escorted the Clerics out of the quadrant. Spitfires have returned to their own time. Captain Avery and his men are going. Is she all right?_   
_AMY: Yes, she's just crying._   
_STRAX: Give her to me, human fool. She needs changing._   
_AMY: I just changed her. I think she might need a feed._   
_STRAX: A feed, of course. I'll take care of everything._   
_RORY: Er, I really don't think you will, actually._   
_STRAX: I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties. I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid._   
_(The Doctor comes out of the Tardis with a wooden cot that has an orrary dangling over it.)_   
_DOCTOR: She's not hungry, she's tired. Sorry, Melody, they're just not listening._   
_AMY: What's this?_   
_DOCTOR: Very pretty, according to your daughter._   
_RORY: It's a, it's a cot._   
_DOCTOR: No flies on the Roman. Give her here._   
_AMY: Hey, there we go._   
_RORY: But where would you get a cot?_   
_AMY: It's old. Really old. Doctor, er, do you have children?_   
_DOCTOR: No._   
_AMY: Have you ever had children?_   
_DOCTOR: No, it's real. It's my hair._   
_AMY: Who slept in here?_   
_VASTRA [OC]: Doctor, we need you in the main control room._   
_DOCTOR: Be right there! Things to do. I've still got to work out what this base is for. We can't leave till we know._   
_AMY: But this is where I was? The whole time I thought I was on the Tardis, I was really here?_   
_DOCTOR: Er, Centurian, permission to hug?_   
_RORY: Be aware, I do have a sword._   
_DOCTOR: At all times. You were on the Tardis, too. Your heart, your mind, your soul. But physically, yes, you were still in this place._   
_AMY: And when I saw that face looking through the hatch, that woman looking at me._   
_DOCTOR: Reality bleeding through. They must have taken you quite a while back. Just before America._   
_RORY: That's probably enough hugging now. So her Flesh avatar was with us all that time. But that means they were projecting a control signal right into the Tardis wherever we were in time and space._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah, they're very clever._   
_AMY: Who are?_   
_RORY: Whoever wants our baby._   
_AMY: But why do they want her?_   
_DOCTOR: Exactly._   
_RORY: Is there anything you're not telling us? You knew Amy wasn't real. You never said._   
_DOCTOR: Well, I couldn't be sure they weren't listening._   
_AMY: But you always hold out on us. Please, not this time. Doctor, it's our baby. Tell us something. One little thing._   
_DOCTOR: It's mine._   
_RORY: What is?_   
_DOCTOR: The cot. It's my cot. I slept in there._   
_AMY: Oh, my God. It's the Doctor's first stars._   
_RORY: She's_   
_(Amy wipes Melody's dribble with the prayer leaf.)_   
_STRAX: Drop your weapons. State your rank and intent. I found it listening at the door._   
_(It is Lorna.)_

_[Control room]_

_DOCTOR: You've hacked into their software, then?_   
_DORIUM: I believe I sold it to them._   
_DOCTOR: Ooo. So what have we learned?_   
_VASTRA: That anger is always the shortest distance to a mistake._   
_DOCTOR: I'm sorry?_   
_VASTRA: The words of an old friend who once found me in the London Underground, attempting to avenge my sisters on perfectly innocent tunnel diggers._   
_DOCTOR: Well, you were very cross at the time._   
_VASTRA: As you were today, old friend. Point taken, I hope. Now, I have a question. A simple one. Is Melody human?_   
_DOCTOR: Sorry, what? Of course she is. Completely human. What are you talking about?_   
_DORIUM: They've been scanning her since she was born, and I think they found what they were looking for._   
_DOCTOR: Human DNA._   
_VASTRA: Look closer. Human plus. Specifically, human plus Time Lord._

_[Outside the Tardis]_

_LORNA: I heard her talking. This is a trap. Why would I lie to you?_   
_RORY: Well, you might want to take a look at your uniform._   
_LORNA: The only reason I joined the Clerics was so I could meet the Doctor again._   
_JENNY: You wanted to meet him, so you joined an army to fight him?_   
_LORNA: Well, how else do you meet a great warrior?_   
_AMY: He's not a warrior._   
_LORNA: Then why is he called the Doctor?_   
_(The lights go out.)_   
_LORNA: It's starting. Please, listen to me._

_[Control room]_

_DOCTOR: But she's human. She's Amy and Rory's daughter._   
_VASTRA: You've told me about your people. They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism._   
_DOCTOR: Over billions of years. It didn't just happen._   
_VASTRA: So how close is she? Could she even regenerate?_   
_DOCTOR: No, no. I don't think so._   
_VASTRA: You don't sound so sure._   
_DOCTOR: Because I don't understand how this happened._   
_VASTRA: Which leads me to ask when did it happen?_   
_DOCTOR: When?_   
_VASTRA: I am trying to be delicate. I know how you can blush. When did this baby begin?_   
_DOCTOR: Oh, you mean_   
_VASTRA: Quite._   
_DOCTOR: Well, how would I know? That's all human-y, private stuff. It just sort of goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything._   
_VASTRA: But could the child have begun on the Tardis in flight, in the vortex._   
_DOCTOR: No! No! Impossible! It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe. Long story. So, technically the first time they were on the Tardis together in this version of reality, was on their w_   
_VASTRA: On their what?_   
_DOCTOR: On their wedding night._

_[Outside the Tardis]_

_STRAX: Confirmed. No life forms registering on this base, except us and the Silurians._   
_LORNA: The Headless Monks aren't alive. They don't register as life forms._   
_(And one is creeping up on a Silurian warrior.)_

_[Control room]_

_DOCTOR: It doesn't make sense. You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord._   
_VASTRA: Of course not. But you gave them one hell of a start, and they've been working very hard ever since._   
_DORIUM: And yet they gave in so easily. Does this not that bother anyone else?_   
_DOCTOR: Amy. She worried the baby would have a time head. She said that_   
_VASTRA: Only you would ignore the instincts of a mother._   
_DORIUM: Or the instincts of a coward. This is too easy. There's something wrong._   
_DOCTOR: Why even do it? Even if you could get your hands on a brand new Time Lord, what for?_   
_VASTRA: A weapon?_   
_DOCTOR: Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?_   
_VASTRA: Well, they've seen you._   
_DOCTOR: Me?_   
_VASTRA: Mister Maldovar, you're right. This was too easy. We should get back to the others._   
_(Vastra and Dorium leave.)_   
_DOCTOR: Me?_   
_(The Doctor thinks back to the warehouse in 1969.)_   
_RIVER [memory]: I'd say she's human, going by the life-support software. She climbed out of the suit, like she forced her way out. She must be incredibly strong._   
_KOVARIAN [on screen]: I see you accessed our files. Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away. But I like to keep tabs on you. The child, then. What do you think?_   
_DOCTOR: What is she?_   
_KOVARIAN [on screen]: Hope. Hope in this endless, bitter war._   
_DOCTOR: What war? Against who?_   
_KOVARIAN [on screen]: Against you, Doctor._

_[Outside the Tardis]_

_(The Monks are on the move. A white light cone appears around the Tardis.)_   
_AMY: What's that?_   
_VASTRA: A force field._   
_LORNA: And those are the doors locking._   
_VASTRA: Apparently we're not leaving._   
_RORY: Is that the Monks?_   
_DORIUM: Oh, dear God. That's the attack prayer._   
_RORY: Quick, come with me._   
_VASTRA: Commander Strax!_   
_STRAX: I'm trying to seal off this area of the lighting grid._   
_VASTRA: This is where we'll make our stand. Clear lines of sight on all approaches._   
_(Rory hides Amy and Melody behind some boxes.)_   
_AMY: Rory, no offence to the others, but you let them all die first, okay?_   
_RORY: You're so Scottish._   
_VASTRA: Centurian, you're needed!_   
_LORNA: There should be some plasma pistols somewhere. They left everything._   
_STRAX: Then find them, boy!_   
_VASTRA: She's definitely a girl._   
_JENNY: Oh, stop it!_   
_DORIUM: We don't have to fight them. I'm friends to the Monks. They know me._   
_RORY: Yeah, and they know you just sold them out to the Doctor._   
_DORIUM: Oh, they'll understand it's only me. Only silly old me. You understand, don't you?_   
_VASTRA: Mister Maldovar, get back here!_   
_STRAX: Arm yourself, fool!_   
_RORY: Dorium!_   
_(Dorium walks into the darkness, arms outstretched. There is a swish of metal, and something falls to the floor.)_   
_VASTRA: Mister Maldovar?_   
_RORY: Dorium?_   
_(Two Monks escort the headless Dorium back into view.)_   
_VASTRA: The child. At all costs, protect the child!_

_[Control room]_

_DOCTOR: A child is not a weapon!_   
_KOVARIAN [on screen]: Oh, give us time. She can be. She will be._   
_DOCTOR: Except you've already lost her, and I swear I will never let you anywhere near her again._   
_KOVARIAN [on screen]: Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy, but fooling you twice the same way? It's a privilege._   
_DOCTOR: Amy. Amy._

_[Outside the Tardis]_

_(The fight is on as the Doctor runs. Madame Kovarian appears through a hatch behind Amy.)_   
_RIVER [OC]: Demons run when a good man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good man goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies, night will fall and the dark will rise, when a good man goes to war._   
_DOCTOR: Amy!_   
_RIVER [OC]: Demons run but count the cost. The battle's won, but the child is lost._   
_DOCTOR: Amy!_   
_KOVARIAN: Wakey, wakey._   
_DOCTOR: Amy!_   
_(Melody suddenly goes splat in Amy's arms.)_   
_AMY: Rory? Rory! Rory!_   
_(The Doctor is behind a locked door.)_   
_DOCTOR: Amy, she's not real! Melody, she's a Flesh avatar. Amy!_   
_(The Doctor runs in. Everything is quiet.)_   
_DOCTOR: Amy! Amy._   
_RORY: Yeah, we know._   
_(The Monks are dead, and Strax is wounded.)_   
_STRAX: It's strange. I have often dreamed of dying in combat. I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped._   
_RORY: Come on, Strax. Don't give up._   
_STRAX: It's all right. I've had a good life. I'm nearly twelve._   
_RORY: Listen to me. You'll be back on your feet in no time. You're a warrior._   
_STRAX: Rory, I'm a nurse._   
_(The Doctor goes to where Jenny is comforting Amy.)_   
_AMY: So they took her anyway. All this was for nothing._   
_DOCTOR: I am so sorry._   
_JENNY: Amy, it's not his fault._   
_AMY: I know. I know._   
_VASTRA: Doctor, there's someone who wants to speak to you. Her name is Lorna. She came to warn us._   
_(Lorna is also dying.)_   
_DOCTOR: Hey. Hello._   
_LORNA: Doctor._   
_DOCTOR: You helped my friends. Thank you._   
_LORNA: I met you once, in the Gamma Forests. You don't remember me._   
_DOCTOR: Hey, of course I remember. I remember everyone. Hey, we ran, you and me. Didn't we run, Lorna?_   
_(Lorna dies.)_   
_DOCTOR: Who was she?_   
_VASTRA: I don't know, but she was very brave._   
_DOCTOR: They're always brave. They're always brave._   
_VASTRA: So, what now? They'd almost certainly have taken her to Earth. Raise her in the correct environment._   
_DOCTOR: Yes, they did. And it's already too late._   
_VASTRA: You're giving up? You never do that._   
_DOCTOR: Yeah, and don't you sometimes wish I did?_

 

 

River appeared like she always did. In a flash of light. "Well then, soldier. How goes the day?"

  
When the Doctor turned to her, his emotions were clear on his face. He was absolutely furious. "Where the hell have you been? Every time you've asked, I have been there! Where the hell were you today?"

"I couldn't have prevented this." She replied calmly.

He shouted at her, his voice a deep growl, "You could have tried!"

Oh, he was not getting away that easily. "And so, sweetie, could you." She turned to the shocked parents standing to her right. "I know you're not all right. But hold tight, Amy, because you're going to be."

The Doctor had gathered himself enough to respond. "You think I wanted this? I didn't do this! This ... this wasn't _me_!"

Now it was her turn to be furious. "This was exactly you. All this. All of it!" she said, her voice cutting like a knife. "You make them so _afraid._ When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the _mention of his name_!"

She walked around him. "Doctor! The word for _healer_ and _wise man_ throughout the universe! We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word _Doctor_ means mighty warrior!" She stopped. "How far you've come." She knew it was unfair, but it was the only way to let him see his faults. "And now they've taken a _child_ , the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn her into a weapon just to bring you down. And all of this, in fear of you."

The Doctor did what he always did when the conversation got too personal. He changed the subject. "Who are you?"

Two could play this game. She ran backwards, her voice light. "Oh look, your cot. Haven't seen that in a very long while."

But the Doctor wasn't having it. He grabbed her arm. "No, no, you _tell me_. Tell me who you are."

She placed his hand on the cot. "I am telling you," she said softly. "Can't you read?"

He looked down and his eyes widened in disbelief and awe.

"Hello," he choked out, barely holding back the tears of joy.

"Hello."

"But, but that means ... you're my ... you ..."

River smiled. "Indeed it does."

The Doctor just pulled her into a tight hug, kissed her forehead and then spun around to adress the others.

"Vastra and Jenny, till the next time! Rory and Amy, I know where to find your daughter, and _on my life_ , she will be safe! River, get them all home."

 

 

_RORY: Doctor!_   
_AMY: No! Where are you going?_   
_(The Doctor takes down the forcefield around the Tardis and goes inside.)_   
_AMY: No!_   
_(The Tardis dematerialises.)_   
_AMY: Where's he going and what did you tell him?_   
_RIVER: Amy, you have stay calm._   
_(Amy picks up a gun.)_   
_AMY: Tell me what you told the Doctor._   
_RORY: Amy, no. Stop it!_   
_RIVER: It's okay, Rory. She's fine. She's good. It's the Tardis translation matrix. It takes a while to kick in with the written word. You have to concentrate._   
_AMY: I still can't read it._   
_RIVER: It's because it's Gallifreyan and doesn't translate. But this will._   
_(The prayer leaf.)_   
_RIVER: It's your daughter's name in the language of the Forest._   
_AMY: I know my daughter's name._   
_RIVER: Except they don't have a word for Pond, because the only water in the forest is the River. The Doctor will find your daughter, and he will care for her whatever it takes. And I know that. It's me. I'm Melody. I'm your daughter._


End file.
